Something More
by Sonny13
Summary: Cassie and Damon have finally admitted they feel for each other. To themselves at least. With Katherine, the werewolves and the Originals coming at them from all angles, will their spark remain? SEQUEL to 'The Best Friend'. Damon/OC
1. The Return

**A/N: My sequel to 'The Best Friend' is now here. I know I said I was going to wait until it came out to DVD, but I want to start it now, mostly because you guys are so dedicated and amazing. Please review!**

**P.S. In this whole series, anything romantic between Damon and Elena is immediately turned into a form of friendship. There is no romance, AT ALL!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD. Only Cassandra Anne Miller is mine.**

_Previously in 'The Best Friend':_

_"Why do you assume he's alone?" said an all to familiar voice from the window. I turned slowly only to find the one thing that could possibly make the situation any worse. Cassandra Miller. Cassandra is Damon's Best Friend, from when we were alive to now._

_"I'm sorry, about Katherine, I can see she must have been a friend to you Cassie, you both lost her to," Elena said._

_No matter how mad I was at Stefan, we were going to get Katherine back. I was going to get my sister back. But now that I really thought about it, I wasn't sure that's what I wanted._

_"Because he's in love with Cassie," Isobel answered simply. I turned my stare to Elena who looked a tiny bit smug despite the situation. It was silent and I looked around awkwardly. Then it hit me. She was right._

_I can't believe I kissed Damon. I got up and walked to my closet, but stopped and looked back at the sleeping man in my bed. His hair was all messy and he looked peaceful. I knew I was in love with him._

_Our lips never left one another's as we continued to make our way towards his room. The door was open and he made quick work of my small shirt before I heard the door slam shut, and I was lost to the passion._

**Cassie POV**

I sighed in content as Damon's hand traveled from my bare hip to my shoulder and back in a soft, rhythmic pattern. I was laying curled up on his chest while he was on his back. My own hand was absent mindedly moving along his stomach, tracing his abs with my finger.

I couldn't believe what happened tonight. It was about 1:00 am by now and we hadn't slept at all since we, you know, slept together. I couldn't form words, it had been perfect. My love for him swelled. If someone had told me 6 months ago that I would be here right now, I would have laughed in their face.

Damon hadn't said anything either, but I didn't mind. I think any words at this point would have ruined everything.

I felt his lips on the top of my head and bit my lip from laughing in happiness. I moved my head up to meet his soft, blue eyes and melted right there. My mouth pressed to his for the thousandth time and my eyes fluttered shut. This kiss was different from the others, it was slow but passionate. Soft but hard. Our lips moved together almost as if trying to prove how we felt, instead of just raw need like previously tonight. He moaned quietly as I bit down on his lower lip softly and I giggled.

Suddenly D's phone began ringing. We totally ignored it though and continued to kiss as if the annoying and intruding noise hadn't interrupted us. The ringing eventually stopped and I smiled against his mouth. But our happiness was short lived as it started again. Damon broke the kiss.

"Don't you dare answer that," I spoke for the first time in over an hour. He smirked in a sexy way and moved over to get it. I huffed in annoyance as he answered it.

"Hello?" I smirked as I got an idea. As he was listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone call, I kissed his free ear that was on my side. He stiffened for a second and I grinned. I bit down lightly and he stuttered, "wh-what? I didn't catch that."

I hummed in triumph. "Okay thank you," he muttered as he hung up. I sat back and wrapped the sheet around me properly.

"What was so important, huh?" I asked.

"It was one of the people on the council, Caroline's in hospital. She was in a car accident."

I fell silent and growled. He wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, "She'll be fine."

"What if she's not?" I asked, truly worried for my friend.

"She will be," he insisted and he began to kiss my neck.

"Well Liz is probably in hysterics. We're going down to the hospital."

"Okay," he mumbled into my throat, but neither of us made to move so he continued to kiss me. I rolled my eyes and leaned over him to grab his long sleeve, button down shirt from on top of the lamp. How did it get there? I slipped it over my head and got out of his bead. As I walked away from him he made a strange whining noise. I rolled my eyes and turned to face him but was suddenly pressed up against the wall by him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked as his mouth hovered over mine and his blue eyes searched my hazel/green ones.

"Looking for my underwear," I replied tauntingly.

"You mean these?" he held up the black lacy underwear I had been wearing with a smirk.

"Yes those," I answered him, ripping them out of his hands and pulling them on.

"No fair," he moaned.

"What now?" I breathed.

"You're wearing so much clothing, yet I'm wearing nothing," he pouted. I rolled my eyes, choosing to ignore his nakedness no matter how tempting it was.

"Well you better change that unless you plan on going into a hospital naked," I quipped. He sighed in defeat as he realised we really were going.

"But we're having so much fun," he added.

"And so we will again, and again, and again, and again. Later."

"You're such a tease," he groaned as he pulled me close.

"Hmm," I hummed in response. "But you love it."

I quickly kissed him again but broke away quickly, while I was still in control.

"Can we at least have a shower?" he asked.

"No," I rolled my eyes. "We're going now. As in _now_. Get dressed."

I was in my room seconds later, smiling as I heard Damon huff. I walked over to my walk in closet and pulled on some dark skinny jeans and replacing D's shirt for a black shirt and my leather jacket. I added some black high tops, sprayed on a lot of the strongest perfume I had and brushed my hair, making sure it looked normal, not like sex-hair.

"Ready?" he asked me as he leaned in my doorway now fully clothed in his usual all black attire.

"Yep," I replied as I grabbed my bag. I went to step through the door but he grabbed my arm and swung me back around, giving me a chaste kiss lasting about 5 seconds. "What was that for?"

"Nothing," he grinned cheekily. "I just love being able to do that now."

I blushed slightly and grabbed his hand, leading him down to his car. I got in the drivers seat and for once he let me drive without complaint. I pulled out of the driveway with such speed that the tyres screeched, making me grin. Damon held my hand as we drove.

"Are we going to tell anyone?" I asked.

"Tell anyone what?" he countered, confused.

"About whatever it is that's now going on between you and me," I replied.

"Oh, I don't think so."

"Neither do I," I told him.

"Really?" he seemed surprised.

"Yeah, I think they would freak, besides it seems heaps is going on right now. We don't need to add this to the pile."

"You're right," he admitted. "So this is real?"

"What are you on about now?" I asked him, confused by his question.

"Whatever it is we now have. Are we going to keep it up?"

"You sound so girly," I grinned.

"Oh shut up Cass," he smirked. "Seriously."

"Of course Damon," I smiled softly at him.

"Good," he tightened his hand around mine and leant in to kiss my cheek and whisper in my ear. "I'm glad."

XxX

"Liz," I called out as I finally spotted her. I pulled Damon over.

"We came as soon as we got the message," D told her. I rolled my eyes.

"Is she okay?" I asked. "Please tell me she is."

"She in surgery," she replied softly. "They're doing everything they can. I need your help Damon, Cassie."

"Sure," he answered immediately.

"Absolutely, whatever you need," I added. We led her over to a more secluded part of the hospital so we wouldn't be overheard.

"Mayor Lockwood is dead," she told us. We, of course, already knew this put we put on shocked faces anyway. "They thought he was a vampire. They put him on the basement."

D's hand snaked around my waist as we listened. I was used to it by now, we had done it since we were little. But now the action had new meaning. To anyone who knew us it looked like usual. But to us it now held a new intensity, a new need.

"Mayor Lockwood is a vampire?" D asked, though we both knew that to be false.

"No," she replied fiercely. "A mistake was made. They said he dropped like the others when John's device went off, but he couldn't have been a vampire. I've known the man my whole life. Carol Lockwood is going to want answers and all I can think about right now is Caroline. I-"

She cut of sobbing. I snapped into action, pulling her to me in a hug. She sobbed into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her and Damon patted her back, both of us whispering words of comfort.

When Liz finally felt better she went off to see a nurse about Care. Damon wrapped his arms around me again and I leant my head on his chest, sighing deeply.

"Come on, let's find the others," he said softly as he put an arm over my shoulders. Mine went around his waist and we walked towards Care's room. As we rounded the corner we saw Bonnie and Elena talking intensely.

"Is there a spell you can do or something?" Elena asked her desperately. Before Bonnie could reply, D made our presence known.

"She doesn't know how," he informed her. "Do you?"

"No," she admitted. "I don't."

"No, you don't," D began.

"Because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that," I said.

"Yeah? Well I can take down a vampire," she snapped. "That spell was easy to learn."

We gave her an annoyed look and turned to Elena. "I can give Caroline some blood," Damon offered. She was taken back by the suggestion. I have to admit, so was I.

"No, no way," she said.

"No, no, no. Listen, just enough to heal her, she'll be safe in the hospital. It will be out of her system in a day, she'll be better Elena."

I had to agree, it was definitely a good idea. My arms tightened around his waist.

"It's to risky, I can't agree to that," she said heatedly.

"But Elena," I tried to reason with her.

"Do it," Bonnie cut me off. We all turned to look at her in confusion, I would have thought she would be against it the most. "This is Caroline, okay? We can't let her die. Do it."

"Cass?" he asked me. I bit back a smile at how concerned he was about my opinion.

"Absolutely," I nodded. He turned to Bonnie.

"If I do this, you and me?" He gestured between them, I elbowed him. "I mean you and _us_, call a truce?"

"No," she deadpanned. My eyebrows rose. "But you'll do it anyway. If not for Elena, then definitely for Cassie."

Then she just walked off. I sighed and shook my head, my long, curly hair shaking with me.

"Look I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now but we should talk about what happened," he said to Elena. I rose an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and nearly killed John," she explained.

"Oh my God," I hissed. "Awesome."

She gave me a slight glare. "I mean, oh!" I tried to sound sad, but failed miserably.

"Wait what?" D asked. "When, what are you talking about. After I left?"

"You were there?" she asked.

"What the hell is going on?" I questioned them both. I was ignored.

"Oh come on Elena, you know I was. You gave me the advice, remember. I just wanna say thank you," D explained.

"When were you at the house? What advice?" she asked him, totally confused.

"Really? Earlier on the porch, we were talking, I asked you a question, you laughed and told me to, you know..." he trailed of, glancing at me.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have time for this."

"Why don't you remember?" he grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"What?" Elena cried, exasperated.

"Elena," Jenna called. "I came as soon as I got your 's John?"

"Where have you been?" Elena answered her question with a question.

"At the fire department, I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier," she explained.

"No you didn't," she replied.

"I am so confused," I sighed, rubbing my head. D's hand started rubbing along my back soothingly. Suddenly he froze as if finally understanding something.

"Yes I did," Jenna continued as I looked at Damon curiously.

"No Jenna, you didn't," Elena insisted.

"Yes I did," she said again. I rolled my eyes. Then Damon made a weird noise. Sort of like an unpleasant grunt.

"Oh my God, you gotta be kidding me!" he exclaimed. We all looked at him like he was insane and he grabbed my hand pulling my the other direction suddenly, causing me give a yelp of surprise. After a few corridors of being dragged we ended up in an almost deserted corridor so I finally used vampire strength and planted my feet, making Damon get pulled back.

"What's going on D?" I asked carefully.

"Katherine," he hissed.

"Excuse me?" I asked, beginning to question his sanity.

"Katherine's here. It all makes sense. That bitch," he growled, causing a passing nurse to glare at us.

"Are you kidding. Crap, Damon seriously..." at his look my eyes widened. He was serious. "Katherine's here."

XxX

We entered Elena's house silently. Well until we saw Stefan growling in pain on the floor. I stepped forward and helped him up.

"Stefan?" Elena asked from where her and Damon were still in the doorway.

"Elena," he breathed heavily.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Katherine happened," Damon answered. He was beside me in the next second, looking around protectively. I rolled my eyes, it's not like Katherine would hurt me. Would she?

We explained everything to Elena and needless to say she was pissed and worried.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asked Stefan after Elena had gone to check on Jeremy.

"No," he deadpanned. Stefan was pacing and D was leaning against the back of the couch I was sitting on.

"She said she fooled one of us at least. What does that mean?" Stefan asked us. I shook my head but D sighed, causing my to twist in the chair and look at him curiously.

"She pretended to be Elena to when I showed up earlier tonight," he explained.

"I told Jeremy," Elena sighed as she came into the room. "I can't lie to him anymore."

I nodded in approval, "Good idea, he deserves to know."

She nodded also. "Are you alright?" Stefan asked her.

"No, I'm not alright," she told us. "I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone, things would get better."

"I know," Stefan admitted. "We all did."

"Katherine was in this house which means that she's been invited in. What are we going to do?" Elena asked us.

"Move," Damon suggested. I began laughing but Stefan and Elena's looks quickly silenced me. D came around and sat next to me, taking my hand.

"Very helpful," she snapped.

"It's an idea," I shrugged.

"Katherine wants you dead," Damon informed her. "There's zero you can do about it."

"You will be dead," I added darkly. Then I brightened, "But you're not."

"Which means she has other plans."

"Right, and we need to find out what these other plans are and not provoke her in the process," Stefan said. "What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

"Nothing much, we just talked. I asked her some things, she gave me some advice and here we are," he smirked, glancing at me.

"Advice about what?" she asked.

"Nothing," he stated, giving her a look that clearly said _let it go._

"John obviously knew something, that's why she tried to kill him," Elena deduced.

"She's Katherine, she loves to play games," D said as he released my hand and moved his arm around me, allowing me to move closer to him.

"You're an idiot if you think you're actually going to find out what she's up to before she wants you to," I said to them with an eye roll.

"Actually Elena's right, John could know something through Isobel," he then went off quietly to Elena about her Mother. I sighed and rested my head against Damon's shoulder and his hand moved up and down my arm lightly, giving me tingles as it reminded me of this morning.

"I've got a better idea," Damon told them. Apparently he had been listening, unlike me.

"What's that?" Elena asked.

"We're just gunna ignore the bitch," he explained as if it was obvious. I grinned and had the urge to kiss him, but I held back. Barely.

"Is that smart?" she countered worriedly.

"If Katherine thinks she's being ignored," he began.

"It will lure her out," I finished with a grin as he nodded. "She'll make a move."

"Yeah, then what?" Stefan asked.

"Stake her, rip her head off," he suggested. "Something poetic."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," I smirked and with that Damon pulled me out and to the car.

XxX

"I want to know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband," Carol hissed as she, Liz, Damon and I walked with her.

"We're looking into it, but you have to be straight with me," Liz explained. "Is there any reason Richard was effected by the Vampire device?"

"What are you implying," Carol sounded horrified and looked about ready to punch Liz. "That he was one of them?"

"Nobodies implying that Carol," I tried to stop the fight brewing, but I was ignored.

"Your deputies screwed up. Plain and simple, which makes you responsible."

"Carol," Damon tried to intervene.

"Your husband is the one that helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place," Liz hissed back.

"Liz," Damon sighed. He was ignored.

"Someone got my husband killed," Carol declared.

"Guys," I said louder. They both finally turned to look at D and I.

"Look, we're all on edge here," he reasoned. "You suffered a great loss. The whole town has. We have to stick together. Okay, trust each other. We'll get through this."

I bit my lip hard to keep from laughing. He was so cheesy when he was acting human. They nodded and we smiled at them before heading over to the bar.

"Okay, let it out," he sighed. I began giggling, and once I started I couldn't stop. He stared at me for a full minute before huffing and pulling me into an empty room. I was still laughing when I felt a pair of lips on my own, effectively stopping my laughing fit. He kissed my roughly for a few seconds before pulling away. "Shut up Cassie."

Then he was kissing me again. I smiled into it and he walked forwards, causing me to head backwards and meet a wall. His hands went down to my sides and this kiss slowed down a bit. But not too much. We broke away for a moment.

"We should stop before someone sees," I gasped. He nodded but continued to make-out with me in the small room where anyone could walk in at any time. Finally we gathered the self control to stop and after fixing ourselves up we headed back out to the party.

We went over to the window and I was about to say something when I noticed an extremely hot guy come through the door with Tyler. He was, of course, no where near as hot as D, but man he was attractive.

"Hey Liz," I said as she past us.

"Yeah Cass?" she asked.

"Who's the smoking hot guy beside Tyler?" I asked, biting my lip.

"That's the Mayors younger Brother, Mason Lockwood."

"Is he on the council?" I questioned.

"Like _John Gilbert _was when he rolled in?" Damon added, there was a strange edge to his voice, almost like... Jealousy. I smirked slightly. Damon was jealous.

"He's nothing like John," she told us with an almost knowing smile.

"Thank god," I bit my lip to hide a grin as Damon's face dropped into one of jealousy and anger.

"For one he's not an ass," she continued. "He's not a believer either. He wants nothing to do with the council. He's to preoccupied with finding the perfect wave."

"Hm," I made a strange purring sound of approval and she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Don't even think about it Cassie," she said as she backed away.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled. "Thanks Liz."

"Seems like an idiot to me," Damon growled.

"Think what you want," I smirked again. Making him jealous was fun. He growled again.

"Oh don't be so paranoid D," I laughed lightly. Then I reached up and whispered in his ear, "You know it's only you I want."

He growled again, but this time for a different reason, before pulling my into another empty room to start another heated make-out session.

XxX

I walked into the bathroom to fix my hair and check I looked okay. I was just putting on more lipgloss when Elena walked in and gave me a big smile.

"Hey Elena," I grinned. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Oh, yeah I changed my mind. Decided I should probably come and pay my condolences," she replied, looking at me really weirdly.

"What?" I asked suspiciously. Did she know I just spend the last 20 minutes in a broom closet making out with Damon?

"Nothing, I just missed you is all. I haven't seen you in forever," she smiled again.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I turned to her. "I saw you this morning."

"Well let's just say it felt like forever, Sandy."

It took me a moment, but I finally caught on. "Katherine."

"Bingo," she smiled. All I could do was stare. It was really her. My sister, my friend, my...enemy.

"No, I can't," I backed away. Sh almost looked hurt.

"Oh come on Sandy, please don't be like that. No matter what happened with me and the boys, you're still my sister," she smiled slightly. I wanted to kill her and hug her at the same time. I didn't know what to do. She took a step forward and that was all it took for me to break down. One second I was going to run for it, the next I was in her arms, hugging my sister tightly. I realised what I was doing after a minute and turned and left, without looking back.

I ran into Damon as I turned a corner and stepped outside and he gave me a strange look.

"Are you okay?" D asked me, concerned. In that moment I decided not to tell him what just happened, so I just gave him a smile and came to stand next to him.

"I'm fine," I grinned. He gave me one of his rare, charming smiles in return.

"I've always loved the colour of your hair in the sun, it goes a beautiful copper/blood red. Simply delicious," he sighed as he held a glass of wine in one hand, the other playing with a lock of my spiral hair. I blushed slightly, causing him to grin even more.

"Hey, how are you guys doing?" Elena asked as she came up to us. Her hair was straight now, so I'm hoping it's Elena. D immediately dropped my hair and looked away from me.

"Oh you know, the usual," I responded casually.

"Walking on Sunshine," he added.

"Thanks for asking," we finished in sync, our voices creating their usual harmony.

"Damon, Cassie," she deadpanned.

"Elena," we replied together in the same tone.

"We should be able to talk about this," she sighed. "Damon, Cass, we're close enough now. I really wanna know how you guys are doing."

"We're absolutely fine Elena," D snapped. I looked at him totally confused. He shrugged.

"You don't want to talk, fine," she bit out. "I thought we were friends."

With that she turned and walked back inside but got stopped halfway by Bonnie.

"Bonnie, what?" she asked, concerned by the look in the witches face.

"It's Katherine, she's here."

XxX

"We tried to track her but she's gone," D announced as we met back up with Elena and Stefan, walking up the hill hand in hand. "Oh cover up fabio. We've got a crazy ex on the loose."

"Better look out, looks like Katherine's trying to steal your guy," I smirked at Elena. She got a look on her face that almost made me feel bad. Almost.

"That's not what's happening," Stefan denied. I scoffed.

"Isn't it?" D and I asked together.

"I'm going to go check on Jeremy and Jenna, meet up when you three are done," she sighed as she got up and left.

Damon started to yell at Stefan about Katherine and he began to yell back. I rolled my eyes and sat on the bench as Stefan stood up.

"No, I'm not going to let her destroy the part of you that is finally feeling," Stefan hissed at D.

"Feeling what?" Damon countered.

"Your love for Cassie is coming through Damon, and hers for you. You're both feeling something other than anger, and I'm glad but Katherine will try and came between us all. We need to stay strong."

"We have no idea what you're talking about Stefan," I shrugged indifferently from my spot on the bench. Damon shrugged to.

"Look, I know you guys are in love with each other. Hell everyone knows, the sooner you guys admit it already the better," he told us then left. After a minute or so, D pulled me off the bench, tugging me along with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Home," he replied.

"Why?"

I got no answer. The drive home was a silent one. All I could think about was what Stefan had said. I knew I loved Damon, that much was perfectly clear. But I was so sure there was no way Damon loved me. Sure he probably liked me a bit, considering he keeps kissing me and stuff. But love?

I sighed, guys were so complicated.

We walked inside, Damon refusing to let go of my hand. Though I have no idea why. He poured us two glasses of bourbon and we turned, I sensed a presence. Katherine.

"Very brave of you to come here," he bit out. Knowing this probably wasn't going to end well, I skulled the rest of my alcohol.

"I wanted to say goodbye."

"Leaving so soon?" he asked.

"You mean we're not going to braid each others hair and paint our nails anymore?" I asked sarcastically.

"I know where I'm not wanted," she replied 'sadly'.

"Don't pout. It's unattractive on a woman your age," he told her. I couldn't even find it in me to laugh.

"Ouch," she scoffed. He drank his bourbon and put his glass and mine down before grabbing my hand and leading me out of the room. Before we got far though, she was in front of us.

"What, no goodbye kiss?"

I let go of Damon's hand and took a few steps back.

"Why don't I kill you instead?" he suggested. "What are you doing here?"

"Curiosity, etc."

"What are you up to?" he asked her darkly.

"Trust me Damon, when I'm up to something, you'll know it. Come on, kiss me, or kill me, which will it be Damon?"

He grabbed her face in both his hands and I looked away. Just when I thought he was about to kiss her, he whispered, "Neither."

She smirked. "Oh, I see. You finally realised your hidden feelings for Sandy. I'm glad you took my advice."

"Excuse me?" he hissed.

"I never loved you Damon, it was always Stefan. You and Sandy were always meant to be, I was just playing with you for a while."

With that she gave me a little wave and smile, blew me a kiss and left. Without even looking at Damon, I stood up and walked at a human pace to my room. I changed in some shorts and a shirt, and washed my makeup off before climbing into bed and turning my light off. It was at least an hour later that I heard my bedroom door open and close. The bed dipped down, and I smelt Damon as his arms encircled my waist.

"Hey," I whispered.

"Cassie," he whispered back. I turned in his arms and through the darkness my heightened sight saw he had tears on his cheeks.

"Oh my God, Damon. What's wrong?" I asked, panicked.

"I did something really, really bad."

_What's new_, was my first reaction. That's what I would have said up until a few months ago.

"What?" I asked.

"I went to Elena's house, we got into a fight and I killed Jeremy," he told me hesitantly, as if worried about my reaction. I froze and his arms tightened around me.

"I am so, so sorry Cassandra," he whispered in my ear again. I relaxed, I understood he was hurting. No matter what, I would always love him. So instead of doing anything bad, I just gave him a quick, soft kiss on the lips and wiped away his tears with my thumb.

"I forgive you," I whispered back. He breathed a sigh of relief and I melted back into his arms, slowly drifting into the land of unconsciousness.

**A/N: I hope you like this chapter. It's going to be an interesting season. A lot is going to change to accommodate for Cassie, but I'm sure you guys don't mind. Thanks for staying with me and make sure you REVIEW!**

**-Sonny13 **


	2. Flashbacks

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD, just Cassie.**

_Mystic Falls 1856_

"Happy Birthday Damon!" the crowd cheered for a now 13 year old Damon Salvatore. He was grinning widely as he nodded to everyone politely. Once the attention was diverted I noticed him heading into the back. I rolled my eyes and smiled, walking over to him anyway.

"Why, hello Mr Salvatore," I said as I dropped into a low curtsy, holding my right hand out to him.

"Good evening Miss Miller," he smiled in a joking tone as he took my hand and placed a small kiss in the back of it, making me laugh.

"Okay, okay, you win," I said as I shifted uncomfortably in the red dress I had been given to wear by my maid, Louise. She had tightened my corset more than usual and I wasn't happy about it.

"Corset giving you trouble?" he asked in a slightly concerned tone.

"I despise it," I sighed. "Honestly, I am only 12."

"But in just over a week it will be your birthday too, meaning you will be how old?"

"13," I mumbled.

"Exactly," he grinned before looking out at the less than satisfactory gathering being held in Damon's honour. He grimaced.

"It is not the most exciting birthday you have ever had. Am I correct?" I asked in a knowing tone. He nodded. "Well, we will have to fix that immediately."

"Pardon?" he asked curiously.

"Follow me," I smiled and headed out to the garden quietly, hoping I wouldn't be seen. He said nothing, but I knew he was following. We reached the rose garden and I sat on the wooden swing gently. Damon sat down next to me, causing it to rock back and forth slightly with the motion. I kicked off the small heels I was wearing and tucked my feet under me onto the seat. We looked towards the sky and sighed in relief. My hand reached up to run through my shoulder length hair. "What do you think about me growing my hair out to my waist?"

"You brought me out here to talk about hair?" he asked me in an annoyed tone, though I knew he was just being silly.

"Well it was my assumption, Mr Salvatore, that you would much rather be out here with your best friend than in a room with a large group of adults you don't even know," I replied in a teasing tone. He chuckled slightly.

"Very true," he replied. "So, how do you suppose we pass the time Cassandra?"

I wrinkled my nose in a very unladylike manner at the sound of my name.

"Why do you always do that?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Give that disgusted look whenever your name is spoken," he told me.

"I just do not particularly like my name," I admitted.

"You are very strange," he sighed. I just nodded happily. "You never answered my question."

"Well," I began nervously. "I wanted to give you your birthday present."

"Oh," he grinned. "Well then by all means, carry on."

I took a deep breath and turned myself to face him fully. He gave me a questioning look but kept silent. I put my left hand on his cheek gently and kept my hazel eyes locked with his bright blue ones. I let my thumb rub over the warm skin for a second before leaning in and pressing my lips to his softly. He seemed to freeze for a moment but then return my gesture almost eagerly. My eyes fluttered shut as I pressed against him slightly more, his lips tasted of cherries and ginger. One of his arms went around my waist as we continued to kiss. His lips moved in sync with mine, creating a rhythm and sending shivers down my spine. After about 30 seconds, I pulled away and bit my lip.

"Cassie," he whispered.

"What did you call me?" I asked, snapping my head up to meet his gaze. We were still tangled around each other.

"Cassie," he repeated louder.

"Cassie Miller," I said. I grinned as I liked the way it sounded on my tongue. I reluctantly detached myself from Damon and slid back a few inches. "I like it."

"So do I," he told me, still sounding and looking dazed.

"Come on," I grinned and stood up, holding my hand out to him. "I think Stefan saw us leave together, and we don't want him telling your Father."

He nodded and stood up, taking my hand. We walked back to the party hand in hand.

_New York 1920_

"Hmmmm, I have to say you look simply delicious tonight Cassie," Damon purred as we walked into the bar near the docks.

"Why thank you D," I grinned. We sat down at the bar and Damon ordered himself some vodka, and me a martini. I looked around the bar, searching for a tasty snack, after all, that was the reason we were here. "Check out the pretty blonde over near the stairs."

He turned and stood up, slinking over to her immediately. I laughed, also standing up as I tipped the contents of my drink into my mouth and quickly ordered a new one. I smoothed down my blood red dress, the corset incredibly tight but making me look perfect. A light green martini was handed to me. I gave it a sip, it tasted like apple that had been soaked in ginger. I noticed a young man at a table beside me leering at me. I gave an invisible smirk and sipped my drink again. I took out the tooth pick with an olive on it, and brought my teeth to it. I pulled it off slowly and ate it happily. My flirting seemed to make him believe he had as chance. He got up and walked over to me cockily.

"Why hello Miss..." the man greeted.

"Cassandra," I told him.

"Cassandra, a beautiful name," he replied, taking my hand and kissing the back.

"And you are..." I trailed off in the same manner.

"Mr Robert Cambridge." I smiled.

"Well Mr Robert Cambridge," I began as I stood up. "Would you like to go for a walk with me?"

"I would love nothing more," he answered as I led him out onto the street. Our arms linked, we walked through the dark streets near the water in relative silence, only the few lamps giving us light. Of course, I could still see as well as if it was light.

"Shall we go down by the water," he said, gesturing to the walkway right beside the water's edge. I barely surpressed a shiver at the thought.

"No thank you. I don't particularly like water, I had a bad expierience once when I was little," I admitted. He nodded and we continued. I came across a nice alley that was pitch black and hidden.

"Today would be nice Cassie," I heard Damon's silent voice from where he was hidden in the shadows. I rolled my eyes and spun Robert around, my lips colliding with his forcefully. I pulled away to see his shocked expression.

"You will follow me and not make any noises," I compelled him, looking deep into his brown eyes.

"I will follow you and not make any noises," he repeated, sounding as though he was in a trance. I took his hand and led him into the alley. I pushed him up against the wall and sunk my now fully exposed fangs into his neck. I didn't plan on leaving him alive so I ripped into it further, drinking every last drop of this liquid ruby. After a minute I pulled away and wiped my blood smeared mouth on his coat. Satisfied I was clean, I turned only to come face to face with Damon.

"Nicely done," he smirked.

"I try," I hummed. He rolled his eyes but held out his arm.

"Shall we?"

"We shall."

_London 1995_

"Did you see him?" I laughed.

"I know, I know," Damon chuckled along with me.

"God! He looked like he was about to have a heart attack when he noticed it was us."

We had just crashed a party our younger brother Stefan had been at. I had seduced nearly every guy there while Damon did the same to every girl. We compelled them to dance and party, turning the once quiet night into an all out party. It was now three am and Damon and I were heading back to the 5 star hotel we were staying at. We walked in and sat down over at the bar still grinning.

"Scotch on the rocks," Damon told the barman. I took a deep breath. The boy looked no older than 18, so he was doing this illegally obviously. He smelled divine. And I had yet to have any blood today at all. His blonde hair was shaggy and his light brown eyes kind.

"Cherry Martini," I purred with a seductive smirk as I fluttered my eye lashes. The kid, Riley as his name tag said, gulped and nodded.

"Coming right up," he choked before running off to fill the order.

"That wasn't nice," Damon hummed in fake disapproval. I grinned.

"But it's oh so fun," I sighed, laughing slightly as he rolled his blue eyes.

"You know you're going to end up compelling him to go into the back room or something," he told me confidently. That sounded like a challenge to me.

"I'll tell you what. We move on tomorrow, right?" he nodded, "Well if I can get him with no mind control, I pick where we go next. If I can't, the decision is all yours."

"Deal," he smirked and we shook hands as Riley came running back, drinks in hand.

**Damon POV**

"Here you go miss-"

"Anne," she purred again, looking deep in his eyes while giving him her middle name. She wasn't compelling him, just being overly flirtatious.

"Anne," he breathed. He placed her Cherry martini in front of her delicately before all but throwing my glass at me. I scowled at him, but he didn't notice as he just stared at Cassie like a sick puppy.

"You know something Riley," she breathed coyly, taking the cherry out and plopping it in her mouth.

"What?" he asked, breathlessly leaning forward.

"I like you," she smiled, showing pearly white teeth. "You're obviously too young to work here, yet you do anyway. I love bad boys. You are a bad boy, aren't you?"

"Y-yes, I-I-I'm a b-bad b-boy," he stuttered pathetically. I rolled my eyes again. She slid the cherry stem into her mouth swiftly through blood red lips. She continued to look at him innocently while her lips moved about as though she was kissing the air. I found myself staring as her lips sensually pursed and rubbed together. I wondered if they were soft as they looked. Seconds later her pink tongue stuck out and in the centre of it was the cherry stem tied in a delicate little knot. My jaw practically dropped but I stopped myself before thinking into it any more. This was Cassie we were talking about. My insane best friend. Of course I knew she was hot, but I wasn't about to hook up with her because that would be wrong. I mean it's _Cassie_.

I shook my head and looked up to see Cassie was walking away being led by the whelp, Riley, on his own free will. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my drink. What the hell was wrong with me?

**A/N: PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ!**

**Hey everyone. I'm so so so so so x 1000000 sorry that it's been so long. I will probably not be updating the actual story until it comes out on DVD. I might, but I doubt it. I have decided to wait and I'm sure you guys can hold out a little while longer? Please don't hate me! I SWEAR that the second season 2 is out on DVD I will buy it and update. Until then, I pray this will hold you through.**

**All my love to you faithful readers and reviewers. Please give me a review with requests for the story. What you want me to change, things you want me to keep or add. Your wish, my command!**

**God bless,**

**Sonny13 ;***


	3. Brave New World part 1

**A/N: I'm Baaaaccccckkkkkk... I missed you guys but now we're rolling again. Season two is going to be so packed full of romance, action and dramatic twists that even I'm excited, and I already know what's going on. Now if you've seen season 2 and think you know what's going to happen, think again. I WILL be changing things and adding a lot, but the basic storyline will stay the same and I will follow episodes.**

**I wanted to let you guys know I will be going back and revising 'The Best Friend' so if you get some notifications about that, definitely look into it. I will be re-writing at least the first 4 chapters in the next few weeks. I may also change a few things within it too, so if you read that let me know what you think.**

**Now this is only part 1 of this episode. I should have the 2nd part up in the next few days. I'm also toying around with some new story idea's so if you guys could go check out my profile page and take my poll, I'd be grateful. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: Wish I owned TVD and Cassie would absolutely be a part of it if I did, however I do not. :'(**

* * *

**Cassie POV**

I sighed as the steaming hot water enveloped my body. I relaxed in the king sized bathtub. It was so large that I could stretch my legs out fully and still have a little room. I sighed again as I ran my hand completely over the top of the water which was fully covered in a thick layer of bubbles that smelt like roses. I picked up a small pile of it in my hand and angled it upwards, blowing air onto it softly and causing it to explode into little bubbles above me, drifting slowly back down into the bath. I giggled slightly as they landed on my face, tickling me. I heard a familiar chuckle from the doorway.

"Why exactly are you in _my_ bathtub?" Damon asked teasingly. I looked over my shoulder to see him leaning against the door with arms crossed and a smirk on his lips. I bit my own softly. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Yours is bigger," I explained in a 'duh' tone. He rolled his eyes but smiled none the less. He walked in and sat beside me, except he was on the ground. He knelt so his face was next to mine, his arms resting on the edge of the bath. I just gave him a small smile.

"So Elena called," I began casually. He tensed slightly, but still tried to seem nonchalont.

"Oh," he replied.

"She said that Jeremy was wearing his ring, the one he got from John. He's fine," I revealed. He breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Good," he said. I arched an eyebrow curiously. "Well I didn't really wanna kill the kid."

"Of course you didn't," I rolled my eyes. He looked down, lost in deep thought. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "Everything will be fine."

He gave me a large smile and reached over, dragging me into a long kiss. His lips moved in sync with mine. When he pulled away I laughed. He chuckled along with me.

"You know, I think I'm in need of a bath myself," he smirked as he stood up and kicked his shoes off before pulling his black V neck over his head. I laughed again and bit my lip at the sight of his toned chest. He leaned over and kissed me again, deeper than before.

* * *

"The irony of that entire conversation was almost too much to handle," I laughed quietly as Damon and I walked inside the boarding house hand in hand. Carol had asked us to spearhead the council for her. She even stated that I was one of her 'best friends' which nearly made me gag. But I kept up the charade and put on a kind smile, hugging her in thanks.

"I know, it was painful. But at least now we have full control of the council," he said.

"Fantastic!" I smiled, tugging him into the library. I grinned as I stopped at the liquor table. I had an old vintage tee on covered with a vest and skinny jeans tucked into my favourite black suade boots. Damon laughed slightly at my enthusiasm. "I think we earned ourselves a drink, wouldn't you agree."

D smirked and moved his hands to my waist, dragging me close to him, his lips inches away from my own. "I think we earned ourselves more than that," he breathed. I felt his cool breath brush my face and I caved, leaning in and pressing my lips to his. We were kissing for no more then a minute when I heard a door open and close. I could vaguely smell Stefan making me sigh into the kiss sadly. Damon seemed blissfully unaware of his brothers presence so close by, as he made no move to stop. I suddenly ripped away from him. I grabbed a blood bag from the fridge and was back in under a second to see he still hadn't moved. I rolled my eyes and tossed the bag into his hands.

"Yes D, I would love a drink," I smiled innocently as I leant against the table while Stefan strolled in, and pretending nothing just happened. "Would you care for one Stefan?"

"No thank you Cassie," he declined ever so politely. Damon gave me a mock glare as he poured us both some blood. "I'm not hungry. I just ate."

"Are you worried that one day all the forest animals are going to band together and fight back?" Damon asked somewhat seriously. I burst out laughing, holding onto Damon for support as he handed me my glass. I took it gratefully, still laughing. D turned to me and sent me an amused smile, Stefan just rolled his eyes. Eventually my laugh subsided into giggles.

"If that actually happened, it would be the best thing ever," I continued giggling. Damon's hand wrapped around my waist as he smiled.

"I agree. I mean surely they talk," he added. That got me laughing again, quieter than last time.

"I'm just happy that's a blood bag and not a sorority girl or college boy supplying your dinner," he quipped in return. 'Ouch' I mouthed, putting a hand on my still heart in mock hurt and walking away from D before Stefan got suspicious. I stood leaning against the table. It was silent for a moment before Damon spoke.

"I like this," he blurted causing me to raise an eyebrow in question. "You, walking on eggshells around Cassie and I, well mainly me, because you think I'm going to explode. It's very suspenseful. Is Elena worried for us too?"

"Have either of you heard from Katherine?" our brother bluntly changed the subject.

"I think the Lockwoods have a family secret," again the subject was changed, this time by D. I rolled my eyes.

"Well the Gilbert device effected them," I added.

"But the vervain didn't," my other half continued. "So they're not vampires. They're something else."

"Is this you two's new obsession?" Stefan asked.

"Oh, you'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampit in our town. Fine. I'll drop it."

"We haven't seen the last of Katherine, you do know that right? We have no idea what she's up to," Stefan explained carefully. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure we do. She came back to profess her undying eternal love for you, so we're gonna let you deal with her because I have more important things to do like _explode_. Cheers!" Damon smirked and walked out, tugging me with him.

"See ya Stef," I sighed as we disappeared around the corner.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Damon asked as we walked up the stairs. I smiled.

"I'm performing at the carnival," I admitted.

"Ah. Carol ask you?" he summarised in question.

"No actually, as a favour for Elena," I told him. He raised an eyebrow. "What? Can I not do a favour for a friend?"

"Have you not met you?" he asked skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up," I told him in an annoyed tone. "I'm going to go get ready then head to the carnival to meet the band and get set up. Okay?"

"Sure," he sighed.

"What?" I asked, why was he sighing?

"I don't know, I guess I just thought we were gonna go together. But it's fine," he admitted as we stopped outside my bedroom door. I smiled softly, putting my arms around his neck and leaning towards him, looking deep in his blue orbs.

"Like a date?" I asked softly, though I doubted Stefan was paying any attention from where he was.

"Exactly like a date," he smirked.

"We _did _skip that part," I smiled again as I leaned up on my toes so our faces were closer together.

"Yes we did," he mumbled in confirmation. I pecked him on the lips before pulling away biting my lip happily.

"Tell you what," I began suggesting. "I only need to sing a couple of songs, two at least. Then I'm totally free. So I can meet you at the ferris wheel the second I finish. Sound good?"

"Sounds amazing," he grinned.

"I know, I'm a genius."

He rolled his eyes and let go of my waist, pushing me towards my room. "Go get ready and I'll just meet you there."

"Kay," I smiled. "See you at the ferris wheel."

"I look forward to it," he smirked. I smirked back and blew him a kiss as I slammed my door behind me.

I took a quick shower and did my hair as usual, except I added some tousling gel to hold it up slightly and make it look sexy messy. After pulling on some white lingerie I put on my red dress. It had pheonix sleeves, so they were short but daggy and showed most of my sides. It had a V neckline and showed enough cleavege to temp guys to stare, but not enough to be considered a slut. I added a thin black belt and pulled on my black high-heeled suade boots.

Sitting down at my vanity I decided to keep to firery colours, doing heavy eye liner and mascara but evening it out with smokey red and orange eye shadow. Finally I added the locket from Damon all those years ago and headed to the carnival.

* * *

_I tremble_

_They're going to eat me alive_

_If I stumble_

_They're going to eat me alive_

_Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer? _

_Beating like a hammer?_

_Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer_

_Hard to be soft _

_Tough to be tender_

_Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train_

_Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer_

_Beating like a hammer_

_If you're still alive_

_My regrets are few_

_If my life is mine_

_What shouldn't I do?_

_I get wherever I'm going_

_I get whatever I need_

_While my blood's still flowing_

_And my heart still beats . . ._

_Beating like a hammer_

_Beating like a hammer_

_Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer_

_Hard to be soft_

_Tough to be tender_

_Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train_

_Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps _

_Beating like a hammer_

_Beating like a hammer_

_If you're still alive_

_My regrets are few_

_If my life is mine_

_What shouldn't I do?_

_I get wherever I'm going_

_I get whatever I need_

_While my blood's still flowing_

_And my heart still beats . . ._

_Beating like a hammer_

_Beating like a hammer_

_Beating like a hammer_

_Beating like a hammer_

_Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer_

"Thank you, we're 'The Almost Black Roses' and we'll be playing again for you later, so listen out for us."

I finished the first song and smiled at everyone sweetly, scowling on the inside. I can't believe Shannon actually convinced me to sing that song. It was written from an almost human point of view. After telling her and the others to relax and have fun, I ran to meet D at the ferris wheel. He smiled at me as I came up next to him and lent down to kiss me. I leaned away and pushed him back.

"Not here, someone will see," I whispered. He groaned playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't help it, you're just so damn kissable." I laughed and took his hand, walking over to the popcorn cart where we spotted Jeremy. I smiled, thankfully seeing for myself that he was in perfect health. "Let's go say hello, shall we?"

"Be nice," I hummed. He nodded absently and tugged me over to the younger boy.

"Jeremy, it's so good to see you alive," Damon called mockingly causing him to turn and look at us carefully, though he looked slightly annoyed by our presence instead of afraid. That was something I thought was very brave.

"Aren't you two a little old for a high school carnival?"

"About a hundred and fifty years too old," he quipped back while snatching a handful of popcorn from Jeremy's own bag and handing half to me before shoving the rest of it in his mouth.

"Age well, don't we?" I asked rhetorically, taking a single piece from my hand and throwing it in the air, catching it perfectly in my mouth with a small smile.

"You're pretty funny cracking jokes when I could, I don't know, blow the whole lid off this thing by telling someone what you two really are," he replied. I finished off the last of my popcorn and shared an exasperated look with Damon. He rolled his eyes and put an arm around Jeremy's shoulders, easily leading him a bit away from the crowd so we were slightly hidden by the popcorn stand.

"So please tell us that wasn't a threat," he sighed.

"Well maybe it is," Jeremy responded somewhat smugly, holding the hand with his protective ring sitting on his middle finger. D and I rolled our eyes in sync and he hastily pulled the boy into a headlock as I reached out and snatched off his ring so quickly he didn't even feel it slide off his finger.

"This is what we're not going to do." Damon spoke quietly as to not alert anyone of our actions. Jeremy struggled in his grasp. "We're not going to walk around like we're invinsable. When it's _this _easy for us to end you."

He pushed him away and grasped my hand that wasn't holding Jeremy's ring, pulling me to him while he coughed before turning to face us.

"If you wanna tell people what we really are Jeremy," I began, looking straight at him and speaking kindly, my tone only making my words all the more frightening. "Go ahead and try."

At this point I held up the tacky black and silver ring so he could clearly see it. His eyes widened and he glanced down to his hand and back up at me quickly. I winked at him with a smirk on my lips.

"I will shove that ring so far up your ass, you'll really have something to choke on," Damon threatened menacingly and turned to leave. Jeremy huffed angrily and I turned to follow, but not before throwing the ring up in the air for him to catch. It took a moment at human pace, but I caught up to Damon and wound my arm through his, a gesture we were familiar with but hadn't done for a long while. We were silent for a moment as we walked through the carnival. "Remember that one time back in 1976 when we were sitting down at the beach in Hawii with the storm about to roll in."

"That's right," I smiled softly as I remembered the day he was talking about. "We were having such a nice time that we stayed on the sand even in the rain, just talking."

"Well it's not like there was any chance of us catching colds," he chuckled. I grinned and shook my head in amusement.

"And to be fair it _was_ the annaversery of our death," I added.

"Touche."

We were silent again until we came across the wrestling club stand. "Hey look, it's Lockwood," Damon pointed out. "What a perfect opportunity to observe for any inhuman qualities."

"There were some big words in there D, I'm impressed," I teased slightly, standing beside him and keeping my eyes on the arm wrestle occuring between Tyler and some kid about his age.

"Wow, you're lurking," Stefan spoke as he appeared beside us. I rolled my eyes and nudged him affectionately.

"We're observing," D corrected with a smug glance in my direction.

"From afar," I added with a smug glance of my own.

"More like obsessing," Stefan countered smartly before adding, as an afterthought, with a mocking tone, "From afar."

I scoffed in his direction before turning my attention back to Tyler who had just slammed his opponants hand down onto the table between them.

"He's got strength," Damon stated quietly. I hummed my agreement.

"He's a triple varsity athlete, of course he has strength," Stefan replied. "You're reaching."

Just as he said this, Mason Lockwood, Tyler's hot surfer uncle appeared opposite him and and sat down, clearly challenging his nephew.

"Enter the Uncle," Damon muttered, clearly hiding bitterness towards the man I had previously expressed attraction to.

"This is ridiculous," our brother said with a smile, clearly finding something about this situation amusing. The two boys started and it seemed evenly matched for a while until Mason finally triumphed and slammed Tyler's arm into the wood.

"Alright he's the champ," Tyler reluctantly admitted. "Who wants to go next?"

"Stefan wants a go," Damon vulenteered the teenage Vampire. Stefan looked up in surprise before glaring at him. I stifled a laugh behind my hand.

"Yeah, sure. I'll give it a shot," Stefan walked forward and stood opposite the man.

"Get 'em Stef!" Damon cheered unenthusiastically. Feeling slightly sorry for him I added my own cheer to the mix.

"Whooo! Go STEFAN!" I screamed in his direction as I clapped loudly. He turned and gave me a look that split between annoyance and amusement. Mason glanced at me with a small smile. I smirked back.

"My brother and sister over there think I can beat you," we heard Stefan say to his opponant quietly.

"Well your brother and sister are wrong," he replied. I raised an eyebrow curiously. The bell rang signalling them to begin and they did so immediately. It was an intense struggle and I could see the surprise at each others impossible strength appear on their faces. Finally, much to my disappointment, Mason triumphed. Stefan made his way back to us with a heavy expression.

"You didn't put in any effort at all," Damon growled.

"Yeah, actually I did," he replied seriously, worry clouding his features. I frowned and glanced at Damon. He looked the same. I patted Stefan's shoulder comfortingly.

"You know it's probably because you live off squirrels, maybe if I were to have a go we would see better results," I suggested eagerly. "I just had a bag of A-positive before I left, I'll be able to-"

"No, if a girl your size beats him it will bring way too much attention to ourselves," Damon interrupted me softly. "We can't, no matter how much I would love to see you knock him flat on his ass."

I laughed and he smirked back before indicating to Stefan and myself to follow him. "Come with me."

We walked a bit further into the school where we were less likely to be overheard. The only person close by was a handyman or something who was clearly not paying any attention.

"Is he..." Damon was still careful about saying the word out loud, just incase.

"No, it wasn't that kind of strength, but it was more than human if that makes any sense," Stefan admitted.

"What is up with that family?" D growled. "If they're not Vampires than what the hell are they?"

I shrugged but was starting to get seriously concerned by this newfound knowledge.

"Oh, maybe they're Ninja turtles," I smirked at Stefan attempt at being sarcastic.

"You're not funny," Damon told him.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you Stef," I spoke gentle, being as condescending as possible.

"Or no. Zombies, werewolves," he just didn't know when to quit. Though zombies was a little far fetched, the possibility of werewolves had me momenterily entranced.

"No comedic timing, at all," Damon deadpanned. I nodded absently, still caught up in my ponderings on the existance of people who can transform into giant wolves. Come to think of it, Tyler did have kind of a wet dog smell...

"What? What are you up to?" Stefan asked him. I glanced up to see him eyeing the handyman in a familiar way.

"Since this is reality and there's no such thing werewolves or combat turtles," D quipped as he turned towards the boy.

"Ninja turtles," I corrected automatically and he shot me a look.

"Hey you," he said to the dark skinned boy who glanced up with immediate distain.

"I have a name," he scoffed.

"Don't care. I need you to pick a fight with someone," he began compelling him and I smirked, the perfect plan. "Kid named Tyler Lockwood. Get him mad, and don't back down no matter what he does, okay?"

"I wont back down," he replied mechanically, under Damon's compulsion.

"I know you wont," he smirked before glancing at me. The spell was broken with the loss of eye contact and the boy walked away in the direction of Tyler. "And that's how it's done."

I clapped mockingly and his arm settled around my shoulders. I grabbed the dangling hand in one of my own and held it comfortably.

"You do realise somebody's going to get hurt, right?" Stefan asked. He stood in front of us and frowned disapprovingly.

"No, someones going to get mad. As in _rage_," Damon corrected.

"And what's that going to accomplish?"

"Are you kidding?" I questioned with a slight laugh. "Tyler isn't about to walk away from a fight like this Stefan, and when the violence gets bad..."

"Let's see who intervenes," Damon finished for me. "Maybe it's them ambiguously supernatural mystery uncle."

"Here's to hoping," I smirked as D and I turned away. When we were out of his earshot I spoke again. "I _really_ have to go meet up with the band at the stage. Elena's paying me per song so..."

"Alright, alright," Damon sighed dramatically. "Leave me here all on my lonesome while you go prancing around on stage."

I bit my lip to keep in my amused giggle before glancing around to check anybody was watching. They weren't, so I quickly pulled him into a corner and grabbed his collar roughly to pull him down and place my mouth on his. Our lips danced together rhythmically for a moment before I pulled back. "You're forgiven," he whispered, sounding slightly breathless.

"Damn right I am," I teased. "How about you grab me one of the cherry lollipops from the vender over there while I do a song then we'll go somewhere a little less... _crowded."_

"Deal," he smirked. I put my hand out and he placed his in my own. We shook on it with grins on our faces and I turned to go, but not before I blew him a kiss. I raced through the carnival at an expectable human pace, finally breaking through the people and appearing at the stage beside Shannon. It was now fully dark and packed to breaking point with people so I figured a faster paced song would better suit the mood.

I told the band which song to play and we began without an introduction. When the music began people stopped to listen and some people even danced. I loved this song because I actually got to play my electric guitar and I co-wrote this one with Shannon.

_So I've been thinking lately_

_That I should try to go on_

_Maybe start to show up on time_

_But let's be real here baby_

_It's not the way that we work_

_So why waste the sunshine?_

_I guess it's kind of funny how we_

_Always throw away our money_

_Right when we need it most_

_But honestly I'm happy_

_I don't wanna worry about_

_How we got to be so broke_

I began the chorus as I changed to a D major and glanced up to where I could sense Damon. He caught my eyes and held up the medium size red lollipop for me to see. I grinned as I sang.

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_Don't have to say we're giving up if you _

_Walk me home tonight I swear I could_

_Fly beside you or under your starlight_

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_Don't have to wait to have it all if you _

_Light me up tonight I swear I could _

_Never burn out under your starlight _

_So you've been thinking lately _

_That you don't know what you want _

_But you don't know what you've got my dear _

_And if it's dreams we're chasing _

_You've got the world at your feet _

_The skyline is so clear _

_We're getting hung up on the things we should have known _

_Never bothered us before _

_We're try'na make ends meet but I'm starting to think _

_That this is all I need and more _

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_Don't have to say we're giving up if you _

_Walk me home tonight I swear I could _

_Fly beside you or under your starlight _

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_Don't have to wait to have it all if you _

_Light me up tonight I swear I could _

_Never burn out under your starlight _

_Well our jeans are well ripped with our pockets thin _

_We don't have any change so we'll just put our hands in _

_You'll keep me warm tonight _

_I don't need nice things to help me sleep at night _

_Well it's never felt better to have nothing but you _

_And no one understands me but I'm telling the truth _

_Coz we can live in our own world as long as you love me _

_As long as you love me _

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_Don't have to say we're giving up if you _

_Walk me home tonight I swear I could _

_Fly beside you or under your starlight _

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_Don't have to wait to have it all if you _

_Light me up tonight I swear I could _

_Never burn out under your starlight _

_Don't want to say goodnight let's live it up _

_I'm lost tonight under your starlight_

I got to Damon in record time and he handed me my lolly. "Thank you," I smiled and immediately stuffed it in my mouth, sighing contently as my favourite cherry flavour filled my mouth. He chuckled and took my hand, leading me out of the crowed and into a quieter part of the school.

"You're so weird."

"Look who's talking Mr 'All I own is black'," I jested.

"Hey, you wear a lot of black too!" he defended his choice of wardrobe. I grinned.

"Nowhere near as much as you."

He scoffed and pulled the white stick hanging from my lips. I whined as the lollipop was taken from me.

"Give that back!" I pouted. He only smirked. "Damon!"

"No," he denied playfully. "If you have this is your mouth you can't kiss me."

"Who says I want to kiss you?" I challenged. He chuckled again and before I could respond he was kissing me. I didn't react for a few seconds, but soon it was too much and my arms wrapped around his neck of my own accord and my lips moved in sync with his. He smirked against my lips in triumph.

We continued for a while until there was a deliberate cough from our left near the doors. We hurridly broke away and as we did I snatched the candy from his hand. I stuck it back in my mouth and looked toward the intruder innocently.

It was Caroline. I grinned and waved slightly, relieved my friend was okay.

"Oh hey blondie. They let you out?" he asked, not really expecting an answer yet trying to pretend nothing happened between he and I. He turned to leave and motioned with his head for me to follow.

"I remember," she deadpanned, causing him to stop in his tracks. My eyes narrowed as things began to fall into place.

"What do you remember?" he asked, totally disinterested.

"I remember how you manipulated me. You pushed me around. Abused me. Erased my memories. Fed on me," she openly accused.

"You're crazy," Damon smiled patronisingly.

"Well the memories have been coming back," she glanced to me where I leant against the lockers licking on my lollipop and my eyes widened in realisation. "In pieces."

"You can't remember," Damon corrected.

"Clearly she does," I put in. I turned to her. "Just for the record, that was all him. I actually like you."

"No, it's impossible," he tried to correct me also until it finally dawned on him. "I mean unless you were... becoming a..."

She just smirked. "I have a message from Katherine. She said _game on."_

Just as Care turned to leave D reached out to stop her. Clearly, she didn't like that and shoved him back, causing him to fly down the hall a decent distance. "You suck!" she hissed to his collapsed form where he lay on the ground. She headed for the door, calling over her shoulder to me, "Nice seeing you Cassie!"

"Always a pleasure Care!" I called back, still observing from my spot against the lockers, candy in hand. She disappeared through the doorway and I turned to Damon who was now leaning on his elbows looking after her in disbelief. He finally glanced to me as if asking why I didn't interfere.

"You deserved it," I shrugged and strode past him casually. He scoffed and picked himself up off the floor, muttering profanities under his breath.

**A/N: Hey! I hope you liked it. It was a pleasure to write for this story again, this is going to be an EPIC season. Don't forget to check out my poll and review! I REALLY wanna know how I did. I might be a little rusty, but I did my best! The songs were 'Help, I'm Alive' by Metric, and 'Starlight' by the amazing band Tonight Alive.**

**Next chapter: Cassie and Caroline have a heart-to-heart chat and Damon and Cassie talk about labels and come to an interesting conclusion.**


	4. Brave New World part 2

**A/N: Another chapter finally up. Sorry it took a while, had a little writers block. Getting started on the next one right away, will be up either tomorrow or at least by Wednesday. This season is seriously so huge, and I think this episode has some things you guys weren't expecting. Also some kinda bad language somewhere. I changed this story to M because there will be some strong sexual themes and language throughout the course of the story.**

**I've gone back and re-written he first two chapters of 'The Best Friend'. They are totally different and the pilot includes a flashback of when Damon and Cassie first met. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD or it's characters.**

**Cassie POV**

"Elena," D called, getting her reluctant attention. She looked up from what she was doing momentarily but didn't hold our gaze.

"What do you two want?"

"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now but I need you to come with Cassie and I," Damon explained in a hushed voice so no one overheard as he tried to convey the urgency through his tone.

"Whatever it is, I'm not interested," she declared tiredly, even adding a slight sigh.

"Trust me," I scoffed amusedly. "You'll be interested."

"Yeah, we need you to come with us right _now _Elena," he continued seriously. She looked back at us for a moment before finally sighing and nodding.

"Call Stefan, tell him to meet us in Ric's classroom," I told her. She complied as we led the way to the familiar school room our human vampire hunter friend worked in. Stefan was already there at the door and he put a strong arm around her the minute we crossed the threshold.

"What's wrong," he asked deeply, glancing at us seriously.

"Well, and don't freak out when you hear this but-" I tried to word it in a way that wouldn't make them overreact.

"Caroline's a Vampire," Damon blurted, cutting me off simply. I rolled my eyes as dead silence met his exclamation. They stared at us with something akin to horror, clearly not wanting to believe our words.

"That's not possible," Elena finally breathed shakily.

"Well considering she just kicked Damon's ass out in the hallway, I'd say it's pretty damn possible," I countered, unable to resist. She glared at me and started pacing while D didn't look please at my demeaning words.

"How did this happen?" Stefan asked, almost enraged.

"Well I fed her blood, Katherine obviously killed her, and A plus B equals..." Damon answered snarkily. I rolled my eyes as I sat with my legs folded under me on the teacher's desk while Damon leant against it casually.

"But _why_?" Elena questioned as though we knew the answer. It was flattering really, but we didn't know everything.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty little slut," he replied darkly. I barely suppressed a smile. I mean, was it wrong to feel totally ecstatic at his words?

"She said 'game on'? I mean what does that even mean?" Stefan stressed.

"It means she's playing dirty and she wants us to know," Damon answered quietly.

"She probably wants to get us all paranoid and worked up," I added seriously.

"But why Caroline?"

"We don't know!" I exclaimed, putting my hands up in surrender at her sharp tone.

"Caroline must be going out of her mind, she's got no idea what's happening to her," Stefan began pacing the room. Damon and I exchanged a subtle glance filled with worry and amusement.

"Oh, she knows _exactly_ what's happening to her," I countered openly, looking down at D pointedly.

He sighed and explained further, "All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

It was silent for a beat before Stefan sighed heavily, "We have to find her."

"Yep," Damon agreed. "And kill her."

My head swung around to stare at him with wide eyes. "Absolutely not!" I exclaimed quickly. Just the simple idea of hurting the blonde who I could actually call a friend was painful.

"You're not going to kill Caroline," Elena deadpanned.

"She knows who we are, she's officially a liability," he spoke sounding fully detached, but as he glanced at me his eyes softened yet he didn't back down. "We gotta get rid of her."

"Damon, absolutely not," Stefan quoted me. I shook my head.

"Not gonna happen D," I added strongly.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan," he said. I rolled my eyes and jumped off the desk, standing beside Damon with my arms crossed. "Yeah. Caroline of all people will not make it as a Vampire. Her Mother's a Vampire hunter. Guys come on, we all know how this story is going to end so why don't we just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not an option Damon," Elena cut him off tearfully. I rolled my eyes again at how vulnerable she seemed right now and stood before Damon strongly.

"I gotta agree with them D. I get she's a volatile person, but I'll work with her," I promised him, staring into his eyes deeply to try and make him understand how much I truly liked Care as a person. "Besides, she could be fun to have around."

"Not that I don't agree but it still has to be done Cas," he replied, turning to our brother for backup. "No?" Stef kept his eyes to the ground and his mouth shut tight. "Your silence is deafening Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? _Huh_, talk about a town where history repeats itself. You know I'm right."

He suddenly got up and walked up to Damon stiffly, I could tell he had had enough. He got right in his face and with a kind of scary glare spoke intensely, "We're not gonna kill her."

Elena got up and stalked past as well. "It's the only way," Damon called as she joined Stefan at the door and the left together. I rolled my eyes once more and reclined against a students desk. I looked up at Damon from under my lashes and saw him looking at me carefully. "You're not angry with me?"

"No," I replied simply. He was now most definitely confused.

"I just said I'm going to kill one of your best friends," he told me. I sighed in extreme annoyance.

"I know, I was there," I nearly snapped.

"Well why aren't you yelling?" he asked suspiciously. Part of me knew I should but deep down I understood his reasoning, and I actually agreed. I didn't want Care to have to live this half-life only to be killed brutally a few weeks down the track. I just shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I'm going to go look for Care, talk to her seriously about what's going on," I told him. He raised his eyebrows at me in surprise. "I wasn't kidding when I said I would be her mentor."

He nodded and shrugged back, sighing I stepped over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me and I placed a small kiss on his lips making butterflies erupt in my stomach. I walked out the door without a goodbye and took of in search of the newly turned vampire, knowing Damon would still try and accomplish his task and I had to get to her before he did.

I raced through the carnival at as much of a human speed as possible, sniffing the air for the familiar smell of hairspray, nail-polish and perfume that she carried. I couldn't smell it any where and had been searching for at least 20 minutes. I hoped I wasn't too late. Just as I though this, the strong scent of human blood drifted through the air. It wasn't just a small whiff like if someone got a paper cut. No, this was heavy as though a lot had been spilt. I rushed as fast as I could towards the scent, not caring who saw me. I would barely be a blur to them anyway.

As I finally found the source of the smell, I nearly gasped at the sight. Damon was holding Care close with a stake held above her heart from behind. Without thinking a rushed up to them and ripped the stake from his hand, pulled a sobbing Caroline from his grasp and shoved him back a few feet. He stared at me as I held her in my arms and I stared back. Stefan arrived a moment later.

I let go of her as she and Elena exchanged some words while I strode up to stand beside Stefan as he stood before Damon. "Stefan, we have to get her inside!" Elena exclaimed. He nodded and walked back, grasping Care's arm ready to drag her indoors.

"She's going to die!" Damon called. "It's only a matter of time!"

"Yeah, but it's not going to be tonight," Stefan said forcefully.

"Oh yes it is," D growled, reaching down to pick up the stake. My eyes widened and in the next second I was pushing Elena out of the way and standing between Damon and Caroline fiercely. My eyes shut tight involuntarily as I saw the stake heading for my chest and I readied myself for the pain. But none came. I hesitantly opened my eyes to see Damon holding the stake inches away from where my still heart lay and he had a pained look in his eye, as tough he couldn't believe just how close he had come from killing me. I was breathing heavily as I stared up at him with wide eyes.

"I could have killed you Cassandra," he snapped darkly. I swallowed thickly and nodded, eternally grateful he didn't though I knew it would have been an accident.

"She's my friend," I replied wholeheartedly. His amazingly blue eyes never left my own hazel ones as he dropped the stake at his side.

"Whatever happens Cas, it's on you," he sighed, a slight smile on his lips for some unknown reason.

"I understand," I replied. I vaguely heard the sounds of the witch showing up and flipping out, but it was lost on me as I stood o close to Damon. He sighed and drew his arms around me tightly.

"Dammit Cassie," he growled in my ear as his arms folded around my waist and I wrapped my own around his neck with my head tucked into his shoulder. "I almost killed you."

"But you didn't," I grinned, still colossally relieved. I inhaled his addictive scent of alcohol, aftershave and the forest after a storm.

"No, get off me. I want Cassie!" I heard Caroline scream at Stefan as she shoved him away from her. I chuckled at Stefan's dumbfounded expression and untangled myself from Damon. I blew him a kiss as I flew to Care's side and led her into the bathroom. She was hyperventilating and shaking. I didn't know Vampires could even _have_ panic attacks. I tore the paper towels from the dispenser and wet them slightly before rubbing them on her face to get off the now dried blood.

"Shhh. Caroline," she wasn't listening to me. She continued to fidget and sob. "Caroline! Care, shhhh. Look at me."

She was still breathing deeply but she finally met my eyes. "Oh my God, Bonnie hates me. She hates me and matt. Oh God, Matt. What am I going to do, I'm a murderer Cassie!"

"Caroline!" she was sobbing deeply as she stared up at me brokenly. "Caroline, I'm a murderer too. It's part of what we are. You killed one guy and it was an accident! Over the hundred and sixty something years I've been alive I have murdered hundreds upon_ hundreds _of people and it wasn't an accident. I did it on purpose because I relished in other peoples pain. I enjoyed it. I can see right now that you are a better person than I will _ever_ be Caroline. I am proud to be your friend."

She continued to sob abut she nodded slightly, showing that she understood everything I was saying. All of a sudden the familiar veins appeared on her face as her blue eyes darkened to black and red. "Oh my God! Why does this keep happening? I'm hideous!"

"Caroline! Look!" I shouted as I let the demon inside of me take over. My fangs scraped my bottom lip and my eyes darkened with veins protruding below them. She gasped as she saw me and I took her face in my hands. "When this happens Care, you tell yourself you will get through it. Come on, deep breaths. Try it with me."

She looked into my eyes, her own glazed over in terror and sadness as she met my deep breathing. My own face went back to its original state and her's did the same after a minute. She continued to breathe for a moment before sobbing again. "What's going to happen to me?"

I smiled sadly and took her in my arms softly, hugging her to me in an almost maternal way. "I'm going to teach you all I know Care. But you're going to be better than me. That's a promise."

She still cried but she nodded into me chest as I continued to embrace her carefully and shush her calmly. I wish I could undo what had been done to her, but unfortunately this shit was permanent. There was a knock at the door and Stefan entered silently. "I'm going to take her home with Elena."

I nodded knowing I needed to have a talk with Damon anyway, but I felt bad about leaving her like this. "Care I have to go and deal with some things while Stefan takes you home. I'll see you in the morning though, I promise. Just go home and get some sleep."

She nodded and I squeezed her once more for comfort before disappearing from their sight and appearing back out in the car park where the body of the guy she killed was. To say I wasn't expecting what I saw was an understatement. Damon was on the ground panting and there was a trail of water leading up to him from the hose. Bonnie was standing over him with an intense look on her face.

"Damon?" I called carefully in confusion. He glanced up at me and he looked to be in pain. "What the hell is going on here?"

Suddenly the trail of water caught on fire and I screamed as it travelled up to his legs and they caught alight as well. I raced to his side but could do nothing as the fire kept me from getting too close. He cried out and started thrashing around as the fire burnt his flesh. I screamed in fear, terrified of losing him. "Damon!"

The fire suddenly stopped as Elena interfered and distracted the witch. I sighed loudly as relief overtook my body and I hastily patted out the last bits of flames lit on his pants. He breathed deeply and layed flat on the ground still recovering. I could hear Bonnie and Elena exchanging words but they were lost on me as I stared at D. I took his face in my hands much like I had done with Care and stared at him intensely as I looked over him for other injuries. "Are you okay? Did she do anything else? Are you still hurt? Do you need blood?"

"Cassie," he chuckled but it came out as more of a pained cough. "I'll be fine."

"You'll be fine," I breathed, repeating it for my own mental stability. I reached down and pressed my forehead against his, staring deeply into his eyes. "You'll be fine."

* * *

We walked into the house hand-in-hand as I leaned on him with my head on his shoulder. He had given me his leather jacket and I had it on over my wet, bloodied, scorched dress. I slipped my heels off at the door and as we reached the alcohol table he poured us both drinks with his free hand. There was a heartbeat behind us and with a whiff of the air it was clear Jeremy was sitting in the room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Damon asked darkly, making it clear he wasn't welcome.

"You don't lock your front door," the young 16 year old replied. I turned to looked at him and he was dressed in a dark hoodie, holding a jagged stake. I raised an eyebrow but let it pass. D handed me a glass filled with bourbon and I happily accepted it.

"Yeah," he shrugged. We weren't exactly worried about anything that could be stopped by a lock, so why bother? I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my drink only to have it scorch the inside of my mouth.

"I wouldn't, I laced it with vervain," Jeremy admitted. I gagged and spat the contents back into the glass. Hissing as my mouth smoked and sizzled, I wiped my lips on D's jacket and slammed the glass onto the table with a slight growl. Damon's growl was louder than my own and sounded kind of protective as he put a comforting arm around my waist and turned to face the kid with an enraged glare.

"Now why would you do that?"

"So I could stake you," he admitted. I scoffed at the suggestion that he could overpower either one of us and leaned into Damon's embrace. He held up the badly whittled stake, "With this."

He then threw it on the ground at our feet. "You came here to kill us?" Damon asked with a slight tone of humour in his voice.

"Well only you. Not Cassie, I actually like her," he replied with a tiny smile my way. I returned it though still pissed he had nearly burned my mouth off, "But it's only fair. You killed me first."

I stepped forward and picked up the offending piece of wood as a precaution. Damon had almost been killed once tonight, I wasn't about to take another chance no matter how small. "What made you wise up?"

"My Father hated Vampires," Jeremy told us quietly. D pulled me to the couch and he collapsed down onto it comfortably, pulling me with him onto his lap. I ended up sitting sideways facing Jer with one arm around Damon's neck and the other twirling the stake around easily. "My uncle too. They were absolute, they knew exactly what they stood for. I figured maybe I should too, I mean stand for something. But killing you, what's that gunna do?"

"Look I don't do the big brother thing very well. Sorry I don't have any milk and cookies to offer you," D smirked. Jeremy sighed and got up quickly, stalking out.

"Dick!"

I glared at Damon and slapped his shoulder sharply. _Ouch, what?_ He mouthed to me. I pointed to Jeremy's retreating form and gave him a dark look. He just shrugged in response. I rolled my eyes and called out, "Wait! Damon's Father hated Vampire's too."

Jer stopped and turned around curiously while Damon looked at me exasperatedly. "He did?" the kid questioned.

"Same reason your Dad did," D admitted. "Only it was 1864 and people knew how to whittle."

He laughed and I gave a small grin myself. I held up the piece of wood, "Did you do this Jer?"

"Yeah, I tried. It's a little harder than it looks," he answered quietly. I exchanged an amused glance with Damon. I shook my head with a smile and looked up at him.

"Go home to your sister," I said strongly, but still kindly.

"But-" he began.

"She's mad enough already, we don't want to give her another reason to hate us."

He turned to leave but I stopped him before he could reach the door. "Jeremy!"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't try to kill Damon or myself again, I would really hate to have to do anything to you," I smiled. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I'll try, but no promises," he joked. Once he had gone I threw the failed stake into the roaring fire to my right and snuggled back into his side.

"So what did you think of our first date?" Damon asked, I could hear the smile in his voice.

"I don't know, it wasn't exactly what I expected it would be," I replied, still tucked into his side comfortably. My hand was tracing random patterns on his shirt covered chest.

"Maybe all the interruptions are a sign," he allowed carefully, a reluctant tone to his voice.

"Oh?" I asked carefully.

"Well every time we try to go out and do anything couple-like we get interrupted or stopped," he admitted. I thought about it and figured it was true, we were stopped from being together like that a lot.

"Okay, so dating's out of the picture than," I spoke aloud. "I mean with everything that's going on at the moment a relationship is probably not a good idea."

"But I'm not okay with going back to just being best friends," he countered seriously. I nodded, after these past few weeks, that would be virtually impossible for me anyway.

I searched my mind for a good medium. What would satisfy the aspects we needed satisfied? The sex was _amazing. _Probably the best I ever had. What we really needed was...

"Something more," I grinned, sitting up and facing him properly on the couch.

"Like..." he trailed off, making some weird hand gestures.

"Friends with benefits," I grinned. His face lit up like a christmas tree.

"You mean sex-buddies?"

"Call it that ever again and I'll cut them off while you sleep," I threatened seriously. His smile faltered slightly but he chuckled happily.

"Friends with benefits," he repeated. "Sounds kinda kinky."

"Only if you want it to be," I winked. He laughed again and this time I joined him. After our giggles had subsided I stood off the couch and stretched, loving the feel of all my sore joints popping. "I'm gonna go wash off all this blood and dirt."

I reached down and kissed his temple as I passed. "Me too," he called to me loudly as I disappeared through the doorway with a grin.

* * *

I had showered and washed my waist-length hair, getting out all the dirt and dried blood. Finally I was squeaky clean once more. I had changed into a short, black silk night gown and was sitting at my duchess brushing out my hair when the lights flickered off. I sighed and put down my silver brush. I opened my door and glanced into the hall. All the house lights were out. There must have beed a blackout.

I shrugged and left my door open as I set about lighting my 5 oil lamps I had placed around the room. The smell of roses was soon flowing through the room as I shut my windows and curtains for the night.

Just as I was tying the last two curtains together, there was a knock at my bedroom door. I turned to see Damon standing there smirking deviously as his eyes trailed my body. I crossed my arms and strode over to him playfully. He had clearly only just gotten out of the shower as he was only wearing dark sweat pants and his bare, wet chest glinted in the candlelight. His hair was stuck to his forehead in an adorable way. I bit my lip at the sight of him. He looked god enough to eat.

"Seems there's a blackout," he stated with a coy grin.

I raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "Well spotted."

He was silent for and moment before he stepped into my room fully and his chest only a few inches from mine. "So I was thinking about this whole friends with benefits thing and..." he trailed off and smirked sexily. I gave him a prompting look. "Where do you stand on whipped cream?"

As he said this he pulled a full bottle of whipped cream from behind his back and sent me a naughty grin. I giggled and reached up to run my hands through his cold, still dripping hair before using it to pull his lips to mine and hook my legs around his waist, using my foot to shut the door behind us as we made our way to my bed eagerly.

**A/N: Well? Was this enough to make up for not updating for a while? Next chapter has some seriously huge things in stall so stay tuned. And make sure you go back to the two first 'The Best Friend' chapters. Also if you guys wouldn't mind taking the pole on my page that would be great also :D. **

**Next chapter: Elena is saved by Cassie who is saved by Damon, all in the space of a second and Stefan and Elena make a shocking discovery that changes everything.**


	5. Bad Moon Rising

**(A/N: There is absolutely no excuse for my absence. I had my own reasons, one of them being my house was broken into and my laptop stolen. However, I realise that I should have let you guys know sooner. And I'm sorry. I just got a brand new laptop, so updates should be coming at least once a fortnight now.**

**I hope you like it, and I hope you're all still as passionate about my story as I am. I love every single person who reads this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all mentioned.**

LINE BREAK

**Cassie POV**

"_Hello_?"

"Caroline, it's Cassie. How are you?" I asked over the phone, my face contouring in concern for my newly undead friend as I ran a brush through my hair.

"_Oh, you know. Just sitting in the shadows whilst my loving boyfriend leaves confused messages on my voice mail. What about you_?"

"Ouch, that's rough sweetie. I'm sorry."

"_Stop apologising Cassie; it's not your fault I'm like this. You're the one helping me_."

"About that, I have to go on a bit of a road trip to Duke with Damon, Elena and Rick today, so I'm not going to be able to make it."

"_What? Cass, you're meant to be giving me another hit and going through compulsion_!"

"I know, I know. But don't worry, I was able to get Stefan to come tutor you today," I admitted as smacked on some cherry lip gloss.

"_But I don't wanna spend my day with him, he's boring and broody_," I could practically hear her pout through the phone and I grinned, secretly agreeing with her description of my brother.

"What if I told you I've arranged for him to get you a daylight ring?"

"_Seriously? Oh Cassie, thank you. Thank you. Thank you_!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm. "Don't mention it Care."

"Cassie! Let's go!" Damon yelled up at me from the first floor. I grimaced, I would have heard him if he had simply whispered it and he knew it. Chances are he was just doing it for show.

"Listen, I have to go now. I promise to visit you tonight when I get back and we'll go through compulsion then, okay?"

"_Alright. Have a good day_."

"You too Care. Stay strong."

* * *

I climbed out of the car at Elena's house, taking my place beside Damon. He glanced down at me and grinned saucily, while I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone to play Angry Birds. I was 3 levels in when his voice broke me out of my concentration. "Cassie."

"Yeah?" I asked, looking up from my iphone screen as I paused my game.

"Where did you learn that thing from last night?" He asked casually, a devilish smirk on his lips as he recalled last nights events fondly.

I mirrored the content expression as I replied. "Paris 1922," I batted my eyelashes innocently. "Madame Rochelle."

"I remember that year," he mused huskily, a faraway look in his eyes. "That was a good year."

"Yes, it was," I agreed, remembering the music and dancing that year. The cute French boys were… delicious. I sincerely missed Europe. Once we had moved on from here I would have to convince Damon to take me back to Italy.

"You know, I think I have a set of handcuffs somewhere in the basement," he whispered, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. A surge of desire hummed through my body and I bit my lip to keep in a moan as his hand wrapped dangerously low around my waist.

"Sounds like fun," I replied huskily, looking up at him under my lashes. "It's a shame we're not at home right now."

"Absolutely," he breathed, his lips ghosting over mine. Suddenly he pulled back, making me pout, to lean into the car and beep the horn impatiently. "The sooner we leave, the sooner I can dig out the cuffs."

I rolled my eyes again and pulled out of his grasp. Not a minute later Rick came down the steps towards us with an odd expression cast over his features, Stefan and Elena following close behind. "Sorry you can't come too Stef," Damon teased as they approached the car. Elena gave him a death glare as she roughly shoved her bag in through the window.

"Watch the _paint_," I exclaimed worriedly. It may have been Rick's car, but all cars were special to me. I think it was a period thing, coming from a time where there were no shiny automobiles to take us everywhere.

"Call me if you need anything," Stefan told her seriously.

"Not to worry little brother, she's safe as can be with us," I couldn't help but taunt him. He didn't let my comment affect him too much though, just turning back to his girlfriend. The second they made eye contact she dragged him down to her level, catching his lips with hers in the grossest, wettest, loudest kiss possible, as though they would annoy us somehow. I looked up at Damon and mimed gagging. He chuckled deeply and nudged me jokingly.

"Okay, time to go," he announced, opening his door. Stefan opened the back door for Elena and after she slid in I ducked under his arm and hopped in after her.

"Gee thanks Stefan, you're such a gentleman," I hummed with a false smile.

He frowned at me, shaking his head in amused annoyance. "Good bye Cassie."

* * *

The car ride was _e__ventful _to say the least. Damon and Elena bickered the whole way, it was more than annoying. By the time we arrived at Duke, I was about ready to kill them both. It wouldn't have been a quick and painless death either.

Once we were all out of the car, Elena purposefully ignored both Damon and by association, me. He stayed at my side, his hand wrapped in mine comfortably.

"So Isabel was officially employed with the anthropology department because paranormal phenomenon was rooted in folklore," Alaric explained as we entered the older styled building. We rounded the corner to see a girl in her mid twenties rifling through some files. "Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

"Yes," she replied, sounding kind of out of breath. She didn't make too much eye contact and her heart rate suddenly sky-rocketed. I wasn't concerned though. Human's natural instincts told them to fear us, even if they didn't know why. Or she thought Damon was hot. That was more than likely it. "Of course, I'm Vanessa Monroe, Research Assistant in comparative folklore." She looked at us with shocked eyes and there was an awkward pause. "Let me just go get Isabel's key's."

"I'm sorry these are my friends Elena, Cassie and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition," Rick introduced us.

"Please," she shrugged it off. "Isabel's office is right through there. Isabel was one of my first professor's. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant and one of the reasons I went into Folklore. I have to ask, has there been any news?"

"No," he admitted thickly, his gaze falling to his boots. "I'm afraid not."

"It's just through this way," she told us hurriedly to smooth over the awkwardness her question created. She headed to a door with Isobel's name on it, and she opened it, having to push her weight against it as it was stiff from being unused. We all filed into a dimly lit office. It smelt of dust and mothballs. I grimaced but headed over to the shelves curiously anyway, tugging Damon along with me. "I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating, isn't it?"

She left the room and Damon let go of my hand as he wandered over to a table covered in old bones and artefacts near the window. Elena joined me by the books and we peered at them curiously. I wished the right one would magically jump out at me, but I had no such luck. It was silent as nobody spoke for a moment before Damon's voice run out in the quiet office, "Where'd she go?"

I glanced at Elena who had a furrowed brow. I noticed the lights were still off and footsteps echoed in the hallway. We turned and the girl whose name was already lost from my mind was standing with a loaded crossbow in her hand, aimed directly at Elena's chest.

My mind blanked and in the next second I had shoved Elena to the ground roughly, ignoring her gasp of shock, and turned to face my opponent instinctually. Before I could charge, however, she pulled the trigger. I clenched eyes shut and prayed it to be over quickly, picturing Damon's smiling face in my minds eye. Then two arms wrapped around me, one at my waist, the other my neck. There was a pained groan and another gasp. It took me a beat to unlock my tense muscles and open my eyes.

My voice left me as I found myself staring into Damon's icy eyes as they were filled with agony. My own hazel eyes widened in shock as he began slipping. Quickly, I reached out to grasp his sides, holding him upright and keeping him from collapsing on Elena, who was still sprawled where I had pushed her.

In my peripheral vision I could see Rick restraining the traitor girl, but ignored them both, but put her murder on my to-do list. Damon groaned again as the wood in his back shifted. My own face grimaced as though his pain was my own. "You'll be fine Damon," I murmured, leaning him over the desk. Elena walked over to us, covering her mouth in shock and disgust.

"I'll be fine when you pull the damn thing out Cassandra," he growled tightly. I winced at the sick feeling in my gut as I tugged it from his flesh, a few drops of blood getting on my black cashmere sweater. Thankfully it wasn't noticeable, though the smell would get on my nerves. He breathed deeply and stretched as his skin knitted back together.

"That bitch is dead," he breathed, looking at me. I nodded, a wicked smirk taking place on my features. I had no doubt this would be fun.

"You're not going to kill her," Elena spoke defiantly as we attempted to get passed her.

We paused, looking her up and down. She was no threat to us. "Watch us," we drawled in unison, identical smirks on our features.

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to either of you ever again."

We paused again. I felt undeniable anger and annoyance well up inside me. Did she really think I thought _that_ much of her that that threat had any power of me at all? "Why would that hold _any_ power over us?" Damon spoke my exact thoughts aloud. "You are severely overestimating yourself."

"Right, I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind that snaps and kills people impulsively," she replied scathingly. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Make that _two_ psychotic minds," I bit out, shifting my weight to the balls of my feet and leaning forward, allowing my slightly extended canines to be shown.

"Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want."

"You're trying to manipulate us," Damon pointed out snidely after a beat. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from adding any unwarranted name calling.

"If by manipulate you mean tell the truth then okay, guilty," she admitted, sounding far too 'high and mighty' for my liking. Damon and I both looked down at her, as she was an inch or two shorter than me, and several than him. She seemed to shift nervously, though her face showed no sign at all of her fear. Her eyes were hard as she stared right back at us.

I wasn't sure if I admired her bravery, or if her attitude was too annoying for me to handle. I pursed my lips at her righteous expression; it really rubbed me the wrong way.

Finally she found our collective gazes too much to handle. I think the fact that we didn't have to blink anywhere near as much as she did unnerving. Either way, she eventually muttered a quick, "Okay?"

We watched her leave the room without waiting for our response. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or growl, so I settled for sighing instead. I turned into Damon and rested my head on his chest. His arms ran up and down my back and for a moment I forgot Elena and the crazy wanna-be hunter chick. I slowly slipped my hands under his purple button down and let them creep up his muscular back. He buried his head in my curly mass of auburn hair and inhaled deeply. My searching fingers found the place he had been staked and I instinctually rubbed my thumb against the perfectly healed, warm skin. He shivered under my delicate touch and I delighted in feeling his muscles ripple beneath my hands.

"Thank you _il mio amore,_" I whispered into his ear with a small smile. He moved back so I could look into his eyes, and they were brighter than I had seen them in a while. I knew he loved it when I spoke Italian, though it wasn't as though he wasn't fluent either.

"Any time _mio caro amore_," he replied. My breath caught in my throat and I pressed my lips together to keep myself from blurting something I would regret revealing. I settled for leaning up to press my lips against his. It was sweet and chaste, anything more would have without a doubt led to us getting caught. His lips were as soft as always, though he kissed today with a rare tenderness I adored.

Pulling away after a good half a minute we gazed at each other, communicating with just our eyes. We stepped back as he smirked and gestured to the room where they were talking to the woman, I returned the look with a wicked grin of my own, leading the way to the group.

"I'm Elena Gilbert," Elena told her fiercely as the woman coward in her chair. I took hold of Damon's hand to keep myself from tearing out the pathetic woman's jugular as she stared up at us with fear. "I'm Isobel's daughter and the descendant of Katherine Pierce. This is Cassandra Miller, a good friend of mine and no threat to you." I scoffed loudly at this, my eyes darkening as her heart rate picked up even more. I smirked at her discomfort. "And this is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot."

My grip on Damon tightened as he spoke, "I'd be _extra _nice to us right now." I grinned and nodded slowly, narrowing my eyes as she gulped.

"Look, we need you're help. Okay?" Elena continued soothingly as though he had never spoken. "We need to see all of Isobel's research. Anything related to Mystic Falls."

She hesitated, shifting in her seat and folding her hands in her lap to try and disguise their shaking. Finally she answered, "I can get what you need."

* * *

"This is pointless, there's barely anything here," Damon grumbled irritably. I rolled my eyes and carelessly tossed another book about mermaids to the ground, not bothering to put it back in its proper place.

"Well, you're the one who pushed to go," I laughed at the annoyed expression he sent me from the shelf he was grazing. "Suck it up."

"That's your job," he countered wittingly. I caught on in no time, and a second later I had expertly thrown a candlestick at his head, probably giving him a minor concussion. He sent me a whiny look and I made a noise of disgust before turning back to the dusty shelves to keep my amused grin hidden. Secretly, I loved it when we were able to communicate so silently like that, it gave me a thrill that we knew each other so deeply.

After about another 10 minutes of quiet searching he spoke up. "Cass?"

"Yes?" I asked softly, looking up from what appeared to be some kind of ghostly pornographic image. It was _interesting, _to say the least.

Damon was holding up a think brown book, the word _Petrova_ artfully printed to the cover, nothing else. I furrowed my brow; it took a long moment to come to me. Katherine, of _course_. I mentally smacked myself as I remembered something from long ago.

_**Mystic Falls 1864**_

"_Sandy," Katherine spoke up as we slowly strolled to the greenery to meet with Damon. Well, she was meeting with Damon. I was merely here to keep her company on the walk, and maybe to get a glimpse of the best friend she had been monopolising as of late. I didn't mind too much though, I only wanted them to be happy._

"_Yes, my friend?" I asked, smiling at her as I toyed with a loose thread on my light violet gown._

"_What do you remember of your parents?"_

_The question had me stumped, I'll admit. It had been so long since I had even though of them. I pursed my lips, running a hand through my waist length hair only to remember it had been braided back off my face by Emily earlier that morning. I suppressed a sigh. "Well, I remember my mother's hair was blonde, and my father's was the colour of oak, but slowly greying. Mother would sing to me all the time, Damon says that's where my love of music comes from. My earliest memories are of her singing."_

"_Well they sound lovely," she told me with a small smile. "And they never had any other children?"_

_My brow furrowed as I replied. "Not that I'm aware of." The expression she gave in response to my answer was definitely odd, like some kind of secret smile. As though she knew something I didn't. I watched her closely, "Why do you ask Katherine?"_

_She didn't answer right away. "I am merely curious. I have gone so long without my own family that the memories are beginning to fade somewhat."_

_For a moment I empathised with her, feeling as though the sorrow she tried to cover was my own. I quickly shook it off, I didn't want her to think me too sensitive. "I'm sorry."_

_She waved off my apology and continued like it had never happened, "So Miller is your true last name then?"_

"_Of course," I replied frowning, baffled as to why she would ask such strange questions. "It's like asking if Pierce is yours."_

"_It isn't though," she giggled softly, though a gleam in her eye told me there was so much more behind the story._

"_Oh?" I asked, intrigued._

"_My true name is Petrova. Katerina Petrova."_

_**Present**_

I pulled myself from the past, my gaze returning to that little book. I pressed my lips together and looked up at Damon questioningly, wondering why he didn't just read it. "This may prove to be useful in more ways than one, dear," he mumbled to me under his breath. With that he reached up and placed it on a high shelf above my head. I smirked at his logic and turned as I heard the woman enter the room again.

"This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April 1864," she announced. I barely spared a glance aver my shoulder, focusing on a hand drawn picture of a wolf. The detail in the art was extraordinary.

"Is that all there is about her?" the doppelganger asked.

"All that I'm aware of."

I continued looking through the diary containing some of the most beautiful pictures I had ever seen. There was a slight lull in conversation before Elena sighed, "Here. Take this."

"Does vervain really work?" I tilted my head and caught Damon's eye. He smirked and I matched the expression, amused as she spoke so freely.

"Nope. Not at all!" he suddenly yelled back to them.

"Just an old wives tale I'm afraid," I added, barely holding back my snickers as I kept my back to them.

It was silent for a beat. "Can they hear us?"

"No, that would be creepy," he whisper-yelled back to them both. I simply allowed my laughter to drift their way.

"Can they read minds too?"

I giggled and shook my head. Now that was crazy talk. "You know if you wanna see me naked, all you had to do was ask," Damon turned to face them fully, his tone of voice cocky.

I faced them too, slapping the back of his head harshly as I turned. He winced in pain and grumbled under his breath. I decided to tease too, only a little. "Or if you wanna see me in my cat form, it's much more comfy than my bat one."

Elena spoke up again, "No, that they can't do. Well bar the cat thing for Cassie."

"You mean they-"

"Are very capable of being first rate Jackasses," she cut in stonily.

I was already looking down at another book about fairies, but her comment made me glance up and grin. Not bad.

It wasn't long before I was completely and utterly sick of looking at old leather books and breathing in nothing but dust. I heaved a sigh and tossed another useless book to the ground angrily. "Calm down C."

I spun around to face Damon and raised an eyebrow. "C? Since when am I 'C' to you?"

"Well you call me D, I figure it's only fair," he smiled at me before turning to the book he was scanning. I huffed childishly and rolled my eyes. That boy would be the death of me…

* * *

I looked up after Vanessa's explanation of the sun and the moon curse and my eyes met Damon's. He wasn't in the best of moods. If he was anything like me, which I knew for a fact he was, he'd be bored and hungry. I wondered if I could convince Rick to let us catch a quick snack before we left.

I knew what he was feeling. According to our source, a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire AKA: us. A weird nervous buzzing became apparent in my gut and I cringed as I realised my family could be in some serious danger. "Isn't it a full moon _tonight_?" Damon's voice interrupted my fretting. I felt my eyes widen as I twitched in worry for my brother, Stefan had to know

"I should go ring Stefan," Elena announced to us, as though she had read my mind. She pulled out her phone and headed for the door. I glanced at the window, it was a relatively clear night and I could spot the silver glow the moon had given the trees outside.

"And Caroline!" I added loudly, realising my blonde friend was also in danger. "Elena!" I called to her, keeping my eyes on the window, though I could hear her footsteps halt.

"What?" she asked me, annoyed at my interruption.

I pursed my lips as I hesitated. I wasn't her biggest fan today that much I knew. Her attitude was driving me up the wall. However deep down I cared for her, it was like a maternal instinct of sorts, as though we were family. "It's getting dark. Be careful."

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw her nod in response and I finally tore my eyes from the tress, meeting hers and giving a tiny, comforting smile. She left then, and I sighed, slowly brushing my hands down my light wash jeans to rid them of the dust they had accumulated throughout the day. I could still see the drops of Damon's blood on my dark cashmere sweater and I frowned at it.

"Is everything alright Cass?" Rick asked me as he walked into the room. Damon glanced up at me briefly from the cabinet he was fingering through, but otherwise stayed quiet. I knew he would be listening though.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I admitted to my friend, a small smile plastered on my face to mask my intense worry. "It's just a lot to take in, you know?"

"Yeah," he sighed, falling down onto the couch and looking around leisurely. "It was definitely worth coming here you know, despite all the memories."

I placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling sympathetically as he sighed again. I walked over to a table with some kind of goblet on it and picked it up curiously. It looked like it was made from bones and animal skin. Cool.

"They know, Stefan's going to get them both safe," Elena told me as she re-entered the room quickly, stalking over to where I stood and going through the files to my left. We stood side by side, looking at the contents of the area in silence.

A squeaking noise caught my ear and I turned my head to see some papers rustling in the corner. I furrowed my brow as Elena didn't turn, it was obviously too quiet for her to hear. I put down the Aztec drawing I held and made my way over to the noise, keeping my footsteps silent as to not frighten or alert the animal.

With one quick move I shoved my hand under the dumped paper and when I snatched it out, a tiny mouse was in my hand. I smiled down at its large ears and fluffy white skin. It was so adorable. "Vanessa! You seem to have a pest problem."

As I turned to her, petting the mouse in my hand a scream left her mouth as she scrambled back a few steps to put space between us. I raised my eyebrows as I looked from the mouse to the terrified brunette. "W-what!"

"You scream at mice, but you're cool with having a couple of murderous vampires over for tea?" I asked incredulously. "Makes sense…"

"Cassie, leave her be," Elena sighed as though I was the most irritating thing in the universe. "You know better than anyone that we can't choose our deepest fears."

My spine stiffened instinctually and my amused smile dropped. My face arranged into a glare, I ignored the dreadful feeling I got whenever it was brought up. I barely contained a hiss. "Too far Elena," I snarled.

Then Damon was in front of me, completely ignoring the righteous doppelganger. "Well I for one, think he's absolutely adorable," he soothed, running a long finger down his back.

"Don't cats eat mice?" Rick spoke up from the couch. I rolled my eyes and gave him the finger as I walked over to the window, leaning out and placing the little guy on the edge of a pot plant. I sincerely hoped he would be okay; he was too cute to die.

Rick's voice floated through the room, calling Elena over to check something out in the adjoining room. I looked up at Damon, he nodded towards Vanessa who was now staring at us nervously. I nodded back and in the next second we were in front of her. I leaned forward, my arms bracing myself on the desk between us. "I trust you know what we're going to say?"

"I know that I can't say anything, and I don't mind," she whispered, looking up at us. "Just knowing you exist is enough for me."

"Good," Damon grinned darkly. "Because we have no issues with killing you in your sleep should anything… slip."

"I understand completely Damon," she told him, her big brown eyes looking over him as though he were a God. I knew how she felt, he was gorgeous, however it still pissed me off.

"Well if we find any websites with our names and faces on it, I'll know who to eat. Yeah?" She nodded and I winked at her, making her frown in confusion. I suppose she thought I was kidding. I wasn't.

* * *

"You know, it's getting late," Elena noted, looking at the time on her phone. "We should probably get going, Jenna will be wondering where I am."

I shrugged, not really caring what we did. I was bored anyway, and it wasn't as though we would find anything more than we already had. We'd hit a dead end. "I agree, don't wanna keep you up passed you bed time."

Elena actually cracked a small smile and we gathered up our things, allowing Rick and Vanessa to head out first. Elena all but ran out the door and I waited for Damon to catch up after fetch the Petrova book.

"You're sure you just want to give it to her?" I asked hesitantly.

"Truthfully? No," he answered with a shrug. I tilted my head at him curiously. "I don't, however, want to lose her as a friend."

I smiled, glad he could admit such a sappy thing to me. "Me either," I admitted. "It's nice to have someone to talk to who isn't you."

"Ouch Cass," he mocked, placing a hand over his heart in jest. I rolled my eyes and playfully punched his arm, before winding my own around it and allowing him to lead me outside slowly. "She has been awfully moody today,"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much D," I told him softly. "She's PMSing."

"Gross," he groaned. "Why the hell would I want to know that?"

I simply laughed and shook my head. I let go of him as we approached Elena who was furiously pulling at the car door, which was locked. I sighed, tugging the keys out of my back pocket and pushing the little red button. "Here you are," I spoke softly as the car made its usual dinging noise as it unlocked.

Damon stepped in front of her before she could enter, blocking her way. She glowered at us. "You're not gonna be able to hate us forever," Damon said quietly, beginning to get exasperated.

"I don't hate Cassie, only you," she spat. I raised an eyebrow, but resisted the urge to throw Damon a smug look. "Can we just go?"

He glanced at me and I tilted my head in her direction, my eyes clearly saying _just throw her a fricking bone already._ He pursed his lips but handed the leather bound book to her anyway. "Here, you didn't dig deep enough."

She took it in both hands, examining it closely. "Petrova?" she asked tiredly. "I saw this on the shelf."

"Katherine originally came from Europe," he shrugged, slouching against the car.

"Petrova was her real name," I added quietly, willing myself not to get caught up in the past for a second time today.

Damon gave a lazy, half smile. "Katerina Petrova, to be exact."

"How did you know that?" she asked, looking up at us with wide eyes.

"Oh, you know. Back in the day, Cassandra told me," he admitted. Our heads turned and our eyes met, I smiled slightly remembering the day he had seen it on an heirloom and gotten curious. Being the shy human he was, he was too afraid to ask Katherine himself.

"And Katherine told me," I continued obviously.

"Why would she just tell you that?" she was doubtful of my story.

I simply shrugged. "We were best friends Elena. We were family."

It hurt to say out loud. My sister had turned out to be such a huge lie, a huge disappointment that I wanted to hate her. I did, really. Hate her I mean. Though a part of me still held her on a pedestal as my role model, though I knew it was pathetic of me. Damon's hand wrapped loosely around my waist like it was only second nature.

"Wow," she breathed, looking down at it as though it were made from gold.

"We haven't even opened it yet, we figured you'd want the honours," I spoke slightly louder than before, the tense atmosphere somewhat gone.

"Let us know what you find out," Damon tapped the cover playfully. "We're very curious ourselves." She didn't say anything, only trying to get passed us into the car. Damon stopped her again. "You have every right to hate me, I understand. But you hated us before and we became friends, and truthfully, Cassie is just as horrible as I am. It would suck if that was gone forever. So, is it? Have we lost you forever."

"Thank you for the book. Both of you." There wasn't even a hint to kindness on her face. She looked so impassive and cold it was nearly painful. He knew I was on his side, and I think she knew it too. No matter what happened between us, I would be his, forever.

* * *

"The answer to your question about our friendship, is yes," Elena began after Damon admitted to not knowing about the ring when he had killed Jeremy. It was so proud of him, his honesty was unbelievable. I waited with baited breath, worried for Damon more than ever. This would make or break his mental state at the moment, and I didn't feel like having to cover up his murderous binge. "You have lost me forever."

She tried to walk off immediately, and didn't meet our eyes. Something deep inside of me growled, wanting to be let out as ice cold anger filled me. "But you knew that already, didn't you?" Damon stopped her before she could step passed the threshold. "You used me today, Cassie too."

My teeth began to dig into my bottom lip, wanting nothing but the blood of this girl. "You had information about Katherine that I needed to know."

"That's no excuse," I snapped darkly.

"I thought friends don't manipulate friends." She wasn't able to say anything. A quick glance at Damon proved he was struggling to get a hold of his emotions. "You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks."

He abruptly turned and stalked down the steps, not even stopping once he realised I was no longer beside him. I stayed where I was, glaring down at Elena murderously. I felt tears of anger flood my eyes as I looked at her. "Cassie, I never said we couldn't-"

I cut her off darkly. "You don't get to decide that Elena. You just don't get it, do you?" she was confused, her mouth open in shock as I began to yell. "No matter what Damon does, I will always be with him. I will always chose him over everyone. When someone does something to hurt him you can imagine why that would make me so lethal, yes?"

"But Ca-"

"No Elena!" I snarled. "My temper will only last so long, and I can assure I will snap any moment. Either grow up or stay away from Damon, because I'll be damned if I'm going to let another selfish bitch ruin his life."

She looked positively torn, tears in her eyes as she looked to her shoes. The door suddenly swung open and Rick stared through at us, caution in his eyes. "Cassie, is everything okay out here?"

"Just fine Rick," I spat, not looking away from the distraught doppelganger. "Goodbye."

I was gone before they could blink.

* * *

Damon wasn't at the boarding house when I arrived not 10 minutes later. I hung up my jacket and walked into the lounge. The fire was crackling brightly, so I assumed Stefan had been here before but he had left for Elena's, I had probably just missed him. I was sure to get an earful in the morning after he had a talk with his beloved. I poured a glass of red wine for myself and leant against the soft red cushions, trying not to worry too much about Damon. He was a big boy; he could handle himself… mostly.

I just sat and stared into the fire, trying to clear my mind of all thoughts. Unfortunately it wasn't long after my second glass that someone began knocking on the front door hurriedly. I groaned but yelled out a loud, "Come in!"

Then Caroline was standing beside me. My eyes widened in surprise as I noticed tear stains down her cheeks. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she had a leaf in her hair. "Cassie."

"Caroline, oh my God," I placed my glass on the coffee table and stood to draw a now sobbing Care into my arms. She buried her head in my shoulder like a child; I could feel her tears soaking through my sweater. I carefully guided her to the couch and sat her down. She was shaking so much I was nearly worried, and I briefly wondered if Vampires could go into shock. I knew leaving her with Stefan was a bad idea; that boy couldn't keep a fish alive more than a few days. "Tell me what happened sweetheart. Who am I killing?"

She gave a watery laugh, her voice breaking.

"M-Matt," she began, curling into a ball. "I-I hurt him Cassie. I hurt h-him."

"What exactly did you do?" I asked softly, delicately.

"I bit him," she started the short story. I felt so bad for her, my heart felt heavy as I watched her cry. She looked so lost, so broken. I knew she had to sort out her own emotions, I could do nothing more than hold her hand and hope she would feel better. "I'm evil, aren't I?"

"Oh God Care, no!" I almost yelled, guilt stricken at her fear, her helplessness. "You're such a force of good. The name Caroline directly translates to 'free woman' and 'beautiful happiness'. That's what you are Care, please don't doubt that!"

"Stefan said that he should have left Elena when he could," she began once she had calmed somewhat. I patted her back with one hand as I poured us both some more wine with the other. She sipped it generously. "Do you think I should? Leave him, I mean."

I hesitated. "Listen Care, nobody can tell you what's right in this regard. If you think you're strong enough to resist his blood then stay with him. But if there's even the slightest chance you could slip up… well let's just say you won't always be as lucky as you were tonight."

She didn't say anything for a long time, we both just stared into the fire, our thoughts on our respective significant others. "Are you worried about the wolf?"

"Yes," I shrugged honestly. She shivered and nodded.

She sighed deeply, running a hand through her hair, a habit she picked from me. "I know what I have to do Cass."

"Do you need a ride? Damon left his car here," I offered, staring to stand.

"No, no, no," she gently pushed me back against the couch as she stood up herself. "I'll be just fine on my own. I have to do this by myself."

I nodded my understanding. "Very well Care, be safe. Call me if you need me."

"Thanks Cassie, for everything," she smiled at me. I gave a smile of my own and waved as she walked from the room. I mourned for her loss, sad her love wouldn't work out. I couldn't imagine loving a human, but spending most of the time wanting to eat them.

"Why was Caroline here?" Damon's voice echoed through the room. I started at the sound. I wasn't expecting him back until morning. I only shrugged and tilted my glass at him in greeting. He dropped down beside me and it was silent for several moments.

"How are you?" I asked quietly, propping my arm up on the back of the lounge and holding my head in my hand as I watched him with careful eyes.

He didn't speak for a long moment, but what he did say shocked me beyond belief. "I need you Cassie."

His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and I was blown away by the intensity in them. "Damon-"

"I _need_ you," he breathed again, leaning closer. My eyelids flickered closed slowly as we drew closer. One brush of my lips on his, and I had no choice but to surrender to the passion.

* * *

**3rd Person POV**

Elena sat on her bed, carefully reading the book Damon and Cassie had given her. She was finding out so much, not all of it good, but not all of it bad. Stefan was looking at some loose bits of paper she had brought with her. She was jumpy, flinching at any noise around the room. She wouldn't put it passed Cassie to do something rash, especially if she had been drinking.

"Calm down Elena, Cassie wouldn't hurt you," Stefan soothed her quietly.

She gulped and tried to smile, "I suppose so, it's just that she's so intimidating."

"I know," Stefan said, not sure whether to sigh or smile. "She wasn't always so scary, I promise. The sweet girl she was as a human is still there just buried deep."

"It's- Oh my God!" she exclaimed, stopping whatever she was about to say.

"What is it?" Stefan asked hurriedly, putting down the papers and leaning over to see what she was looking at.

"We even have the same birthday," she breathed, swallowing thickly as she stared towards the top of the Petrova family tree. Stefan rubbed his hand over her back comfortingly as he too read over the history of Katherine. "At least this should tell me how we're related."

"That's one positive for the day I suppose," he muttered tiredly. Elena gave his hand a squeeze as she followed the many lines connecting her ancestors. She was about halfway down the second page when her entire body froze. Stefan felt her change in demeanour and panicked in response. "What's wrong?"

"I-I- um, is that-" she could barely finish the sentence. Her breathing quickened to a worrying pace as she stared unseeingly at the page before her, gaping in pure disbelief.

"Elena?" Stefan began to get frightening by her reaction to whatever she had seen. Desperate for an answer, he slid the book from her grasp and scanned the page she had been on frantically. He too froze in place as his sight brushed something most unexpected.

There, right after Evelyn Elizabeth Yates and beside Arabella Rose Gilbert, was one impossible name.

Elena felt like she was choking. "She's my great aunt," she was finally able to gasp. Her eyes ran over the page once more. The name burned into her mind.

_Cassandra Anne Miller_

**(A/N: Another chapter done. It's a cliff-hanger of sorts. I hope this makes up for not updating, I promise another one within a week.**

**I would love some feedback, just in case you were wondering ;)**

**-Sonny13**


	6. Memory Lane

**(A/N: Another chapter is up. I finally feel back in the zone. A lot of things are going on this season, but despite that I'm really not all too excited. I really want to get this season over and done with, because season 3 is going to be HUGE for Cassie. I don't think anybody is expecting what's going to happen for that season. Alas, I'm going to try and charge through this one and get it out of the way, though there are still many twists and turns to come.**

**TinyDancer365 I would like to say you are absolutely beautiful and lovely and I couldn't ask for a better fan. I have stayed up extra late to finish this one just for you. I hope you like it, because I'm dedicating it to you! Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, it means the absolute world to me.**

**Okay, enough of my yapping. Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.**

**Cassie POV**

_**Mystic Falls 1864**_

"_I thought we agreed that tonight would be about you and I having some fun Damon," I scolded him as I again caught him staring wistfully over his shoulder at Stefan and Katherine as they spoke with the local doctor and his wife. "Not about spying on Katherine and our brother."_

_He turned to me with a guilty expression and opened his mouth to speak but I waved his apologies away, simply hanging him the glass of champagne I had acquired. "They just look so… happy. Why did she not go with me Cassandra? I do not understand."_

_He had the most adorable look on his face, but I knew I could not give him the whole truth, it would break him. "Do not pout my dear Mr Salvatore. Now, we've been here near an hour and I have yet to hear how fabulous I look."_

"_Oh, I am sorry Cassie. You are absolutely stunning, I am just so distracted tonight I thought I had already told you," he admitted sheepishly. I smoothed out the skirt to my blood red robes. It had yellow stitching and piping and yellow ribbon to tie the corset. My shoes had tiny heels and were a soft golden colour, a present from Katherine. My hair was piled atop of my head, only a few springy curls escaping Emily's masterpiece._

"_Well, you look very handsome yourself Damon," I hummed truthfully. He smelt of fresh soup from his earlier wash and he was wearing the same suit he wore to his father's birthday party last month. Though, I supposed it was the only suit he even owned._

_He was just about to reply when Mr and Mrs Lockwood walked up to us arm in arm. "Good evening Mr Salvatore, Ms Miller," he greeted, shaking Damon's hand and kissing mine._

"_Good evening Sir," I inclined my head respectfully and glanced at Damon, but he was staring at Katherine like a love struck fool. I hurried to keep the attention on myself so his inattentiveness was not discovered, nor was the cause of it. The gossip would be horrible. "I must say, this is a wonderful party. You have outdone yourself Mrs Lockwood."_

"_Oh thank you darling, you're always so kind," she blushed at my bold compliment. Her husband smiled at her as though she was the most beautiful thing on this earth. I took the moment of distraction to reach over and pinch Damon's thigh sharply. He jumped and cussed under his breath. Mrs Lockwood heard and her face paled as she gaped at him in horror. Thankfully the Mayor remained unaware. She turned to me, set to ignore my date for the rest of the evening. "Ryan Fell was looking for you earlier. He is quite taken with you."_

_I tried my hardest to keep down the flush that filled me up to my ears. "I'm flattered."_

"_Oh here he comes now," she gave a large smile and gestured to Ryan Fell who was smiling as he headed our direction. "I am sure Mr Salvatore here can spare you for a moment."_

_Damon's hand suddenly gripped mine with force and I looked up at him curiously. Mr and Mrs Lockwood were suddenly talking to Mr Gilbert a few paces away, ignoring us completely. "Yes, could you Mr Salvatore?"_

_Ryan had made his way to out place and overheard his mother's comment. I was about to agree when he gripped my hand tighter. "I was just about to ask her to dance again I am afraid."_

_Ryan gave a smug sort of smile. "Funny, you have had her monopolised all night but I have yet to see you dance but once."_

"_We have been socialising," Damon nearly growled, taking a step closer. My heart began to beat frantically as I wondered what was going on._

"_If by socializing you mean coveting Ms Pierce while your date fetches you drinks."_

"_Excuse me boys," I interrupted their minor spat, wondering why on earth it was happening at all. "I do not believe this is necessary. I shall have a dance with you Ryan, but I am afraid that I agreed to come with Damon, and therefore it would be rude of me to spend the majority of my night with you."_

"_Well," he began, looking slightly put out. "If one dance is what you are offering, it is one dance I shall take. If you'll excuse us Mr Salvatore."_

_He led me to the dance floor as the music stopped and the musicians prepared to play another tune, leaving a surprised and angry Damon behind in the corner we had been occupying._

"_What can I do for you Ryan?" I asked softly as we began the familiar dance._

"_I want nothing but a dance from the most beautiful girl in the room so that she might finally notice my existence," he smiled charmingly. I pressed my lips together to keep in a giggle as a piece of dark brown hair fell into his eye. "Is that too much to ask?"_

"_Not at all," I replied coyly. We spoke no more as we danced properly to the music, my hazel eyes locked on his brown ones. I could see people whispering behind their hands as they stared at us, but I cared not for such gossip. Finally the music ended, but I had to admit I had had a better time dancing with Ryan than I had been sitting in the corner with Damon as he sulked._

"_I know I was only promised a single dance, but perhaps another? I believe the waltz is next," Ryan asked hopefully. I looked into those big brown eyes and tried my very hardest to say no, but I didn't have it in me to disappoint him._

_Casting a look to where Damon stood he didn't seem to be missing me too much as he glowered in his brothers direction. I scowled at his inattentiveness. I had been asked here by numerous boys, all of whom I had had to say no to because Katherine had told me in advance that she intended to go with Stefan, meaning I had the foresight to see I would be his backup. We usually went to such parties and had fun teasing the upper-class men and woman and play pranks like switching sugar for salt. However this time was different, I had taken him as a pity date. And I hated it._

"_Very well Ryan, another dance it is."_

_**Present**_

I turned off my engine and kicked down the stand, allowing my motorbike to balance out. It took Damon a second but he finally unwound his arms from my middle, throwing his leg over the seat and standing upright before holding out a hand to help me off the seat too. I slipped my keys into the front pocket of my black skinny jeans and straightened my _Guns 'n' Roses_ shirt (personally signed by _Axl_ and _Slash _of course) and my leather jacket. I looked up at a scowling Damon.

"I hate riding bitch," he whined. "The whole way all I got was a face full of hair."

I ran my hands through it at his words, hoping it didn't look too completely horrible. "Complain all you want Damon, I know you loved being pressed up behind me," I teased, his annoyed expression melted into a seductive smirk.

"Well I won't deny _that_," he purred. I scoffed and smacked him upside the head as I walked passed, pushing open the door to the grill. I felt him pinch my ass discretely as we travelled further inside. I fought down the urge to kick him in a most unpleasant place, particularly because I was wearing heels, and I needed him fully functioning if we were to continue our fun.

"Do you see what I see?" I asked him after a few moments of silence. He followed my gaze to where Elena sat reading at a table all by herself, concentrating on what she was doing.

"Well, the polite thing to do is to go and say hello," he smirked, taking my hand and dragging me over. I was reluctant to see the backstabbing manipulative little bitch, but I reasoned that it could be fun to annoy here. We were silent as Damon sat down in the chair diagonal to her and I hopped onto the table itself, shuffling back so D could see over my legs, which he promptly placed his hands on.

It took a few seconds but she finally glanced up from her book. She jumped nearly a foot in the air and stared up at me with the widest eyes I'd ever seen. She looked nearly frightened for a moment before she finally dragged her gaze to Damon and asked rudely, "What do you want?"

"So this is where you spend your time when you're not stabbing people in the back," he summarised, looking around as though he were severely interested. I knew he was hurting, just like I was. The betrayal stung. There was reason we rarely made friends. This was it.

"I tricked you into telling me the truth," she excused lightly. "That's not stabbing you in the back. That's using your own tactics against you."

I snorted ungracefully as Damon rested his chin in his hand on my leg. "Yeah, cause that's so much better," I bit out. She paused and looked up at me again, seeming to gulp. She was nervous. Man, I must have really freaked her out the other night. Oops. "So what was in the book we gave you, huh?"

She froze again, her heart began thudding worryingly fast. "Nothing that would interest you."

"Where are you going?" Damon asked dully as she gathered her things to leave, quite clearly in a hurry.

"I made myself clear Damon, I want nothing to do with you," she sighed and stood. I watched her carefully, something was definitely off.

"Okay, see you at Jenna's Barbecue," he called casually, making her stop and slowly turn back around.

She was silent for a beat. "How did you know about Jenna's barbecue?"

"It was my idea," he replied obviously. I pinched his arm in disapproval.

"Make that _my_ idea, Damon's far too uncreative to come up with anything as genius as I," I boasted. He rolled his eyes at me and I pinched him again.

"Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood, so we figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy," he explained.

"So I asked Rick to tell Jenna and… well I'm sure you see where this is going."

"Does Jenna know that you're going to be there? Because she's not exactly a fan of yours," Elena drawled. Just as she said that the waitress walked over and placed the desert box in front of us on the table that I had ordered before coming here.

"Thank you," Damon and I told her in sync and she smiled sheepishly before heading the other way. He continued on, "I'm hoping this peach cobbler will help pave the way."

He stood from his seat, holding out a hand and helping me to my feet, a nice gesture, though an unnecessary one. I smiled at him as I stood and allowed him to lead me passed Elena.

"What are you up to?" she asked cautiously before we could get very far. I noticed she purposefully avoided my eyes, keeping them either on the floor or Damon.

He smirked evilly and leaned in so we wouldn't be overheard. "We're gonna put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove he's a were-wolf," he admitted. I nodded proudly at our plan. No matter how hot the guy was, he was a threat to my family, and that was unacceptable.

"I guess we'll see you there," I smiled sweetly and wiggled my fingers in a lazy wave as we left.

_**Mystic Falls 1864**_

"_Everyone will you please join me in raising our glasses to my good friend George Lockwood," Damon called to the room's occupants. I raised my glass in the air from the sideline, smiling proudly as George stepped out from amongst the crowd to stand beside him. "George, thank you for so bravely defending the South."_

"_It is my honour Mr Salvatore. After all, someone had to do it," the man jested, making light of Damon's resignation from service. He gave a tight but large smile in response as I gripped my glass of champagne tighter, trying not to shatter it in my anger. I kept my face arranged in a grin though, taking a sip of the bubbly liquid, secretly hoping to drown in it as Ryan stood at my side, laughing merrily at the joke at Damon's expense. I frowned as my eyes met Damon's sheepish ones. He was a worry._

_**Present**_

"You know, I just don't see why I have to keep riding bitch," Damon complained again as we walked up to Elena's door, my bike sitting on the drive.

"When I'm allowed to drive your car with you throwing a hissy-fit, we'll talk," I deadpanned playfully, winking at him as I held the cobbler in my hand. I paused at the door and heard everyone in the kitchen. I knocked on the wooden door, stepping back beside Damon.

"Hey Cass!" A bubbly blonde head of hair was suddenly hugging me. I manoeuvred my arms around her, being careful of the dessert in my hands. "I'm so glad you came."

"Wouldn't miss an opportunity for free drinks for the world," I teased lightly, smiling as she pulled back and gestured inside.

"Why am I not surprised?" she replied as we stepped over the threshold. She caught sight of Damon and frowned deeply. "Gross."

"Hello to you too," he snapped irritably. I rolled my eyes.

"They're in the kitchen. I'm going to go talk to Elena outside," she told me I nodded and smiled at her one last time before we made our way passed her into the living room and through to the kitchen.

"Hey!" Damon interrupted enthusiastically. They all turned from where they were doing shots and stared at us blankly.

Jenna looked up at me with a warm grin, "Cassie!" Her eyes drifted to Damon and an unimpressed scowl took place on her lips. He awkwardly pointed to at cobbler in my hands, giving a sheepish grin. "Damon."

"We're just doing shots. Let me get you two some shot glasses," Rick spoke to defuse the tension. I pursed my lips and caught Damon's eye for a moment. He shrugged his response.

"No, no," Jenna interrupted, taking her shot and stalking up to us, placing the small glass in Damon hand roughly. "Use mine."

I rolled my eyes at Damon's gob smacked expression and walked towards Mason, sliding the peach cobbler onto the bench. He gave a large grin and handed me a shot glass as Damon walked up behind me, casually placing a hand low on my back. We held our glasses out for him to fill when he offered. "She doesn't like me very much…"

"But she _loves_ me," I joked dryly. He grinned again.

"We haven't met," he began, placing the bottle of vodka on the table and turning to us curiously. "Mason Lockwood."

I took his outstretched hand and shook it strongly. His skin was warm compared to our slightly cooler than average temperature. "Cassandra Miller. You can call me Cassie."

"Oh sure! Hey, Damon Salvatore," my best friend interrupted loudly and obviously, snatching Mason's hand from mine and shaking it tensely, a friendly smile on his face.

"Oh I know," he admitted, leaning against the countertop. "I've heard great things about you both."

"Really?" I asked in confusion. I had to admit I was kind of proud that people were talking about me in such a fantastic light. Then again I did lay it on thick whenever I spoke to the humans of this town. Except Rick, that little bastard didn't count.

"That's weird, 'cause I'm a dick," Damon blurted honestly. I snicked and nodded in agreement. Couldn't argue with that.

_**Mystic Falls 1864**_

_A throat cleared and I jumped harshly, quickly drawing away from Ryan. I blushed as I looked to the source of the noise. Damon stood at the bottom of the steps, staring at us oddly. I looked to my feet, for some reason ashamed to have been caught kissing a man I liked. I supposed it could have been done at a better spot. "I was planning to go inside some time soon, however if you would prefer for me to wait until you have finished…"_

_I gave Damon an unimpressed scowl, turning back to Ryan with an apologetic smile. "I am sorry Ryan, it seems our time is up."_

"_Until tomorrow my dear," he replied smoothly, leaning in to place one last kiss upon my lips. I pressed my lips together so the giggle trying to escape would be caught. Ryan walked down the steps, pausing when he reached Damon. They both stared at each other for a long, tense moment. I couldn't tell what expressions they wore in the darkness of the night however I got the feeling Damon was going to be over-protective again when it came to Ryan._

"_Cassandra-" Damon began once Ryan was out of hearing range. I paled; he never called me Cassandra when we were alone. Not unless he was mad with me._

"_Damon it really is not any of your business," I snapped irritably, winding my hands together in worry._

"_You were my date for the evening Cassandra, is it not rude to end it by kissing another man. On my doorstep nonetheless."_

"Our_ doorstep Damon Salvatore. You watch your tongue," I cried in outrage. He walked up the steps so we stood face to face. "I would never have even danced with Ryan had you not spent the entire night sulking over Katherine. Were you not the one whom wanted to go to get your mind off of such things?"_

"_I tried Cassandra! You know how much in love I am with Katherine, it kills me to see her with my brother. I thought you of all people would be sympathetic," he challenged, his voice raising. No doubt some nosy maid was eaves dropping, and our spat would be all over town the next morning. Cassandra Miller and Damon Salvatore having a fight. What a once in a blue moon occurrence. _

"_I came to look for you when I decided to leave, only to find you hiding behind a wall, listening in on their conversation. I have on good authority that Stefan and Katherine were to be leaving only a few short minutes after Ryan and I," I hissed, recalling the conversation she and I had as I left to get my coat. "Would you not want to be waiting inside for the opportunity to ravage her?"_

"_Now you are jumping to inappropriate conclusions Cassandra," he spat._

"_Bite me, Damon," I growled. He flinched at my words. Such an insult was extremely rare to hear, particularly from my mouth. With that I turned and shoved open the door, allowing it to crash into the wall beside it, leaving a nasty dint I would blame on Damon in the morning._

_I stormed up to my room, for the first time in a long time, wanting to forget I had ever known Damon Salvatore._

_**Present**_

**3rd Person POV**

"Elena and I know Cassie is your descendant. You wanna shed some light on that fact?" Stefan asked her condescendingly, staring at her hardly.

"Not really," Katherine smirked weakly.

"You know, this will be a lot easier on both of us if you just tell me before I have to burn half your face off."

"Alright, no need to be hasty," she taunted. "I always kept an eye on my bloodline, or at least I had people do it for me. There was a time where I unfortunately lost them for a while. I was in Berlin when I heard about Cassie; people were saying that she was the next doppelganger."

"Wait, so you came to Mystic Falls in 1864 because you thought Cassie was-"

"I was worried about her, being the doppelganger isn't exactly a blessing Stefan, you should know that by now," she breathed, ignoring his glare. "I wanted to check myself, I had to be sure. I was relieved when I found out she wasn't, but I couldn't just leave. I got to know her, although I had kept track of my line, I had never actually met any of them. I grew to love her like a sister, and I course I grew to love her adoptive younger brother in a far more… passionate way."

"I can't believe this. Why didn't you ever tell us? Even after we knew what you were?"

"Trust me when I say it was better for you not to know. You have to admit she does look like me, I can see how people could confuse us from a distance."

Stefan started, he had never really thought of it like that. "You don't look anything-"

"Oh _please_. Same lashes, same figure, same cheek bones, and that curly hair is absolutely unmistakeable," she purred smugly. Stefan clenched his fists to stop from slapping the expression off her face. "What does she think about the news?" Stefan's hesitation was all the answer she needed. She smirked. "You haven't told her. Or Damon I'm guessing. He couldn't keep a secret from her if his life depended on it."

"She hates you for what you did to him Katherine," Stefan spoke strongly. "She's not going to take it well."

"Well the solution is simple then, isn't it? She never needs to know."

* * *

"Aunt Jenna is getting tipsy," Damon announced to Elena as we entered the kitchen when she was preparing the cobbler. She froze again at the sight of me, gulping nervously once more.

"Will you stop plying her with alcohol?" she sighed, dropping her eyes to her work. I narrowed my own in her direction. I couldn't fathom what I had done to make her so jumpy. Honestly, I had been _mild_ when I went off at her the other night.

"Well I want her to like me!"

Elena simply ignored that one, glancing up at the half drunken adults in the living room. "How's operation Lockwood?"

"He's our new BFF," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Our hot BFF," I added quietly in her ear as I stared at the tanned man on the couch. Elena jumped about a foot in the air and Damon flicked me on the ear for my comment. I raised an eyebrow at Elena's nerves.

"There you are!" Jenna exclaimed as she hurried into the room. She gave us a large smile as she stopped at our side. "Isn't this fun?"

"Absolutely Jenna, thank you," I grinned at her genuinely. I had to admit, I might actually consider us friends. She had helped me a lot a few months ago when I got into that fight with the boys. She was easy to talk to.

"Yes, thank you so much for inviting me," he told her, his words sugary to my ears.

"Did I have a choice?" she glowered at him.

"I know what you must think about me-"

"No you don't. You've never dated you. I have dated many you's," she snapped. The look on his face at being cut off was priceless, I pressed my lips together to contain laughter. "And you're dragging Cassie down with you."

"Once again Jenna, we're just friends," I reminded her, trying to forget I was lying through my teeth. "He's a work in progress though, I can assure."

Nobody said anything for a long while, and I frowned at the tension. "Oh!" Damon suddenly exclaimed, walking over to a shelf of knives. I stayed where I was at the

"These are fancy."

"Thanks," she huffed agitatedly, rolling her eyes at me humorously. "It's my Mother's silver set."

My head snapped up to meet Damon's triumphant gaze, he stealthily slipped open the compartment on the bottom and pulled out a large, shiny knife. I smirked back and ducked my head so Jenna wouldn't get suspicious. "Why don't I go call the boys in for some food?"

Without wait for her to answer I fled to the lounge room where Rick and Mason were nursing beers and chatting happily. "Guys, food's ready," I announced loud enough for them to hear. They stopped what they were saying and smiled at me, standing and following my lead into the kitchen.

"Mason," Damon began loudly as we all settled around the table. I walked to his side and stood as he placed the cobbler directly in front of the supposed werewolf. "Why don't you start us off?"

"Sure," he replied casually, before glancing down and catching sight of the silver cake knife. His eyes narrowed but he kept a pleasant grin on his face to cover whatever emotions he was feeling. He smoothly spun it around so the silver was facing us instead, then he shoved his fingers under the pastry, ripping a piece off with his bare hands and placing it on his face as he licked the digits clean. "Oh excuse me. What am I? I apologise, I'm an animal!"

I pursed my lips in thought, watching him carefully. It almost seemed like he was playing us just as we were playing him, though I had no idea how he could possibly know what we were. Damon pulled me down into the chair beside him, keeping a hand on my thigh for good measure. Rick was fantastic as he laughed it off easily and changed the subject. What a champ. "So you and Jenna never dated?"

"Nah, she was always lost in Logan Fell land," he admitted.

"Ah, my first mistake," she sighed regretfully, placing a fresh bottle of beer in front of Damon and I each. We nodded our thanks. "Mason was a catch. He had girls lining up."

"Really? Huh, I always pegged you for a lone wolf," Damon slid in tactfully. I nearly choked on the sip of beer I had taken, trying not to laugh too obviously. He pinched my thigh playfully and I slapped his hand away in annoyance, now wasn't the time.

"Well I'm sure I wasn't half the lady killer you were," Mason retorted casually, taking a sip of beer as he eyed him down. I blinked rapidly in shock, he couldn't know, could he? He suddenly turned to me, "And Cassie, well you're just _drop dead_ gorgeous. I'm sure you knocked 'em dead in high school."

I narrowed my eyes at him harshly, and Damon's thumb brushed over my skin through the rips in my skinny jeans. My lips twitched in dark humour. "I won't deny it," I said back truthfully, my eyes clearly stating a challenge.

"How about a toast?" he suddenly asked loudly, holding up his beer. "To new friends."

I held up my beer along with everyone else, tapping the glass against them all. "Cheers," I said with them, leaning closer into Damon's side.

* * *

"We're going to kill him anyway, right?" I confirmed in a whisper as Damon filled me in on what happened in the kitchen while I was with Rick and Jenna.

"Of course, I'm not an idiot!" he replied quietly, his eyes darting around to check Mason wasn't within hearing distance. I nodded happily, knowing that no matter what happened he still had to die.

"You wanna just take off then, we obviously can't do anything with Jenna in the house," I pointed out. He opened his mouth to reply when Mason's voice drifted through to our hiding spot.

"Oh come on! No more takers for drinks at the grill? It's like I'm with a bunch of adults here!"

"That would be our cue," he sighed, taking my hand and pulling me with him.

"You know we should probably take off too. It's getting late and we hate to leave Stefan alone, God knows what he'd get up to in that house," I spoke up as we rounded the corner. They all looked up and Jenna's eyes darted to our joined hands and back. She gave a small smirk. I rolled my eyes. I nodded at Mason respectfully as he left, he nodded back, obviously believing I had agreed on the whole truce thing.

"Jenna, you are a wonderful host," Damon told her sincerely, kissing her hand with his free one.

"And you are a terrible artist," she replied just as honestly as I lent in to hug her warmly. She laughed silently to herself at her comeback and I knew she was a little drunk. I giggled at her childishness.

"Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?" he asked.

She hesitated, looking him up and down. "I'm still deciding."

"Good enough for me," he began to lead me to the door. I waved to them both, but offered no parting words. I was still being torn up inside over what we were about to do. Kill Mason, that is. As much as I hated the guy, I didn't want to hurt Jenna in the process of getting even. I had seen how close they were today. I pushed my doubts to the far corner of my mind, now wasn't the time for second thoughts. "Alaric, let's _not_ catch that game next week."

With a final smirk he shut the door behind us and we quickly made our way down the path. "How're we going to get there? My bike isn't exactly a stealth machine," I gestured to by black bike sitting still on the grass.

"We'll run it then," Damon suddenly grinned excitingly, his eyes lighting up as they did when we were younger. "It shouldn't take long. If you can keep up, that is."

I scoffed loudly as we made our way down the path at a human pace. "Watch me," I snapped giddily, giving him a harsh shove in the chest, forcing him back several feet in a daze as I waisted no time in flashing away from the house and into the night, my laughter following me.

I did get there before him, but to be fair he was only a few seconds behind me. I laughed as I leaned against a large light post to wait. "That wasn't fair," he whined as he appeared beside me.

"Who ever said I played fair Mr Salvatore?" I smirked coyly. His arms wound around my waist, slowly dragging me to him as he replied with smouldering eyes.

"What am I going to _do_ with you Ms Miller?"

We stood just in the shadow before the light from the lamp we were under hit the street. Out dark clothes melted us into our surroundings easily. I grinned darkly and stood up on my toes to whisper in his ear slowly. "Use your imagination."

He chuckled deeply and tugged me flushed against him, his heat radiating through my shirt. I hummed low in the back of my throat, a contented noise as he rested his forehead against mine for a moment before diving in to capture my lips in his own. They were warm and smooth and they danced with my own, giving me terrible Goosebumps along my skin.

I clutched the collar of his shirt to bring him closer as he backed me up against the post. I felt like a teenage girl making out with the quarterback under the bleachers. It was dangerous and stupid, but I knew I could never regret kissing Damon. It was too erotic, too sensual, too loving. I felt like I could just float away as he tongue ran along the length of my bottom lip and his hand slid lower on my body.

Just when I had decided that, werewolves be damned, I was going to have him there and then against the light post, a familiar voice rang through the still night. "Damon? Cassie?"

I pulled away from Damon as he gave an odd noise at the back of his throat, like a whine. I opened my hazel eyes and they sliced through the darkness easily, pin pointing the soon to be dead moron who had interrupted us. He eyed us warily, "I thought you two weren't together…"

"Oh we aren't," Damon corrected casually as we walked towards him with purpose. I ignored the stabbing pain in my gut that I got in response to his words. Oh, how I wished we were. Surprisingly I was starting to regret this whole, 'friends with benefits' thing, even though it technically was my idea in the first place.

"Well then what-" Something in my expression must have changed his mind on asking what he was about to, because when he looked at me his words fell short. Smart boy. "Why are you guys here? More dog jokes?"

"Nope, we're fresh out," I purred menacingly. He shifted his weight as we continued to move closer. Before he could say anything in reply, Damon's shot out like a viper when striking its prey. The knife he had grasped from his belt was lodged deep in the werewolf's gut, and he hunched over in agony. After a moment of struggling he collapsed to his knees, crying out loudly.

Taking my hand again, Damon led us from his side and over to his truck. He unlocked the back door, pulling it down. I flattened out the blankets inside so his blood wouldn't be left on the interior as evidence. We worked in silence for a second or two until the sound of metal hitting the ground made it's way to our ears.

My head snapped around so fast it would have broken a human's neck. "You know, I think it was werewolves who started this whole silver myth," Mason began, standing up perfectly straight and stalking towards us as though he hadn't just been knifed in the stomach. Damon's hand wrapped tight around my own as he dragged me back with him several paces. As Mason got closer I was shoved behind him, much to my displeasure. "Probably for moments like this."

"Duly noted," Damon replied through gritted teeth, making sure to watch his every move and keep his own body angled in front of me.

"I'll spread the word," I added, unable to help myself. Damon's following nudge annoyed me. So he was the only one allowed to taunt the asshole? We'll see about that.

"I was really looking forward to last call," he sighed with a small, rueful smile. He put his hand to his abdomen, pulling it away too see blood spots on his fingertips. He came right up close to us, most definitely invading our personal space. Damon's hand reached back to keep me locked behind him. I shifted my weight, ready to attack at any moment. He stared right into Damon's eyes as he spoke, it was actually pretty menacing. "Now you've made an enemy."

With a final glance to me he spun on his heel and stalked back to his truck. We stood locked in our defensive positions, anticipating any attack he may try. All that happened though was him getting in his car and driving away at a speed definitely over the limit. It took the both of us several tense moments before our bodies unlocked and relaxed.

Damon turned and took me into his arms, one hand on the small of my back the other behind my head, cradling it gently as he pressed his face into my hair. I swallowed and wrapped my arms around his neck, latching onto him just as tightly. "Well shit."

* * *

"She already has Elena," Stefan muttered.

"Ouch," I whispered to Damon ad I watched Elena storm out from the corner of my eye. He gave a tiny smirk and nodded in agreement. I took a sip of my eighth bourbon and sighed contently.

"They're faking," he blurted softly.

"I know," I replied dully, looking over at Stefan in confusion. I knew it was an act, the question was _why?_

Damon shrugged again, silently telling me this wasn't the time to discuss it. I agreed, not only did we have the whole Mason/werewolf thing going on, but who knew if they were doing it so a certain someone who over hear. He stood resolutely and tipped his head back, allowing the remaining contents of his glass slide down his throat. I did the same, relishing in the sharp burning the liquid caused.

He held a hand out to me and I took it happily, allowing him to hoist me out of my seat and over to the door. I waved politely as I saw Caroline on the way and she gave a weak smile back. I frowned in worry for my friend and made a mental note to call her tomorrow morning and arrange lunch to find out if everything was okay, and if she knew anything about Stelena's 'break-up'.

We existed through the side door, knowing we would have to run to Jenna's to pick up my bike anyway. His hand kept a hold of mine as we began down the sidewalk, only for a hauntingly familiar voice stop us. "Bad day?"

We paused and looked Katherine up and down as she leant casually against the wall. My lip curled in annoyance, I wondered what she felt like meddling with now. I opened my mouth to retort. Unsurprisingly, Damon did too.

"Bad century." We didn't comment on the moment. Only Katherine reacted, giving a sly smile. He continued smoothly. "We heard you were on the loose."

"What's the matter?" she asked him softly. "Jealous I spent the day with Stefan?"

"I don't do jealous," he countered strongly. I felt an overwhelming sense of pride build up in my chest at his confidence. I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Not for you. Not any more."

He began to stalk the other way resolutely, pulling me with him. "Then why so pouty?"

"We tried to kill a werewolf," he began. I had that feeling in my gut. The one where I felt like I had been here before and knew what was going to happen. I let the words flow from my mouth natural, instinctively know what to say and when to say it.

"We failed," I admitted tensely.

"Now we feel as though we're not living up to our best selves," he continued with a simple shrug. He acted so indifferent to the whole situation. The tension in his shoulders and the pressure on my hand told a different story.

"Well werewolves aren't easy prey."

We paused and turned back to her cautiously. "What do you know about werewolves?" he asked carefully.

"Why don't you ask your brother?" she countered smartly. I narrowed my eyes at her, irritated by her evasiveness. She met my eyes and something in her expression changed. She spoke again, "Don't try and be the hero Damon, you'll end up dead."

"Been there. Done that."

"Have the t-shirt," I added mockingly. Her lips twitched.

"At least this time I know it will be worth it," he deadpanned and my chest constricted. I felt his pain, and it killed me. Her expression tightened momentarily, as though his casual words actually hurt her cold, dead, not to mention non-existent heart. He made to walk away but she stopped us yet again.

"You know you two look perfect together," she called, her voice almost purring. I snapped my head back to her a glowered, wondering just what she was playing at now.

"Gee thanks," I scoffed, gripping D's hand so hard it would shatter a human's bones.

"I always knew there was something there, you know. I saw it, right from the very beginning," she admitted with a smug smile. I swallowed thickly as I listened. She stared right into my eyes this time as she spoke. "That was always the plan: for me to have my fun with a human Damon, and for you to have the rest of his eternity."

I was left gaping at where she stood as she disappeared. I couldn't look up at Damon, it would have broken me. We were both perfectly silent and still for a moment, trying to register what just happened. Finally I swallowed down the lump in my throat and without looking, said to him, "I'll just meet you back at home."

Then I ran.

**(A/N: I really hoped you liked this one. I worked hard on it. Please drop a review if you have time )**

**- Sonny13**


	7. Kill or Be Killed

I winced as the sunlight pierced through my closed lids, groaning as I buried further into my pillow. Something around my waist tightened and dragged me back against a warm chest. I frowned in confusion; I didn't remember seducing anyone last night. Of course, there were a lot of things I couldn't remember about last night; it was all a bit of a blur. Slowly, I turned my head to see a head of messy black hair.

My eyes widened in realisation and using vampire strength I unceremoniously shoved him off the bed so he was sprawled out on the floor. I sat upright and waited. Not five seconds later Damon's head snapped up and glared at me over the edge of the covers. I tried to ignore how adorable it made him look, and instead focused on him spooning me without my permission. "Can I help you?" I asked calmly, raising an eyebrow at him as he shrugged.

"You can tell me where you were last night," he dead panned seriously, mirroring my expression. I faltered, biting my lip as I wondered how to answer that question.

I opened my mouth and blurted the blurry words that came to mind, "Well I know I was out late, and I had some cherry tequila. There was a state champion yodeller, a game of charades and a donkey involved somehow. I also had my fill of fresh from the source blood, but I'm not sure if I drained him dry or not…"

He stared at me expressionlessly for about a minute as I tried to recall even coming home. "If you just wanted to go out partying, I don't see why you didn't invite me," he asked, sounding kind of put out. I pressed my lips together shamefully; unfortunately I hadn't had enough alcohol to completely wipe my memory of the events of early last night at the grill with Katherine. He didn't bring it up, so I was content to just pretend it never happened.

"It was impromptu," I admitted, not exactly telling the whole truth but not exactly lying either. I changed the subject, "How did I get home? And why were we spooning?"

"Well you were knocking on the door at roughly 3am, asking if this was the Salvatore residence. You seem to have forgotten you had a key. Then you waltzed up to your room, stripping along the way might I add. You jumped in the shower and after that I helped you put on that saucy little number," he replied, settling himself back on the bed at my side. I looked down at my body to see me wearing a small red satin nightgown. I raised my brow and felt along my hipbone, not surprised to find I wasn't wearing anything underneath. "I was going to leave you here, but you literally held me against the bed until I said I'd sleep here."

I glanced down to his chest; he was wearing nothing but black boxers. I returned my gaze to his ocean blue eyes and asked somewhat nervously, "Did we-"

"No," he interrupted seriously, all humour gone from his voice. "I respect you too much to take advantage of you in that state… Unless I was completely hammered too of course."

He gave a half smirk and threw an arm around my shoulders haphazardly. I rolled my eyes but leant into him. Not that I would have minded sleeping with him again, but the thought of not being able to remember was too much to bare. I wanted to always remember the feel of his skin on mine, for all of eternity.

"We have the fund-raiser to attend today, you know," he added softly. I nodded absently, drawing shapes on his chest with my nail. His muscles contracted as it tickled him slightly. I ducked my head to keep my smile hidden.

"Mrs Lockwood asked me to sing," I admitted, frowning as I realised I hadn't heard a word from the band or even chosen a song yet. I supposed I would figure it out when I got there.

"I love hearing you sing," he hummed in my ear. My undead heart fluttered and I grinned bashfully.

"I have to get dressed now," I told him to change the subject. He said nothing in reply, only releasing me and leaning back with his hands behind his head casually. I rolled my eyes but stood up anyway, stretching my back as I yawned. My spine popped in several places, and I winced.

I took a final glance at Damon before shrugging, deciding 'the hell with it'. It wasn't like he hadn't seen me naked before anyway. I shamelessly tugged off my nightgown, letting the satin fall to the ground in a silky pile, stepping out of it and glancing over my shoulder at D who was still in bed, staring at me lustfully with his eyes not quite making it to my own. I clicked my fingers to get his attention and his blue gaze snapped up to meet my own hazel one. I winked at him saucily and spun back to my walk-in closet.

I pulled out a matching white panties and bra set, pulling them on slowly under Damon's watchful eye. I resisted the urge to peak at him again and kept my attention on what I was going to wear for the day. I glanced at the sky, it was a bright, sunny day and I figured I could pull off a light sundress. I took a white one off its hanger and held it up against me. "What do you think?" I asked him casually, turning back around for him to see the presumed result.

"Not a fan," he hummed huskily. I rolled my eyes, willing to bet my left arm it was because the hem reached my ankles. I put it back up, instead grabbing a light green one. It was tight around the waist and chest, with half length sleeves, one off the shoulder. I held it up against me and turned to my sexy friend for his biased opinion. It came to just slightly above my knees.

"Well?" I muttered impatiently as his eyes roamed me thoughtfully.

"I'll make it work," he finally shrugged. I huffed and shot him an unimpressed glance, pulling it over my head only for my hair to get caught. Before I could do anything about it, another pair of hands was pulling the top down over my face. The green haze disappeared to reveal a smiling, not to mention half naked Damon. I flattened the fabric with my hands and looked back up. He cupped my cheeks and leaned in painfully slow, his nose brushing mine softly. I giggled lightly as he bumped my nose a second time. He grinned back genuinely, a real and honest smile. The one I loved most, the one only I ever got to see.

I couldn't hold back and without thinking, I pressed my lips to his firmly. After several electrifying seconds I pulled back and rested my forehead against his. "You taste like coffee and bourbon."

"Well you taste like vodka and blood," he smirked back. I chuckled and shrugged, I would have guessed as much. "You should probably brush your teeth."

I rolled my eyes but nodded in agreement anyway, stepping reluctantly from his grasp to do something with my impossible head of large, thick ringlets.

* * *

"Well it needed to be done," I hissed at Stefan as we walked together with Damon. We kept our voices low as we wondered passed the humans doing their work in the dirt. "Don't pretend you trust him."

"I'm just saying it could have been handled better," he replied strongly. I scoffed loudly and Damon grabbed my hand casually.

"Not everything can be resolved with words Saint Stefan," he purred tauntingly. Stefan gave him a flat look, clearly unimpressed with our methods and our teasing.

"Listen-"

"Cassie!" a loud voice called, interrupting my brother. I turned to the source and saw Carol Lockwood walking towards me briskly. Stefan heaved a sigh and turned to walk in the other direction. We smirked at his retreating back.

"Carol," I replied, pasting a wide and friendly smile on my features, Damon doing the same. I automatically smoothed my hair which was in two low pigtails. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello Damon, nice to see you could both make it. Well, the children will be ready in approximately 20 minutes if that's alright with you. That's the time I put on the pamphlet, I hope you're properly prepared," she smiled at me.

I didn't say anything for a moment, her words confusing as Damon seemed to be smothering laughter. "I'm sorry, children?"

"Of course… didn't I tell you?" she frowned deeply, her wrinkles prominent with that movement.

"Tell me what?" I asked slowly and cautiously, my grip tightening on Damon's hand.

"That you'd be taking the first half an hour of the children's program. Oh, surely you know," she began ringing her hands together tightly. "Mrs Ballast can't make it until later. I left a message on your machine…"

"It's fine," I replied with a kind, reassuring smile. On the inside I was stabbing her to death. "I don't mind. Where do I go in twenty minutes?"

She breathed a sigh of relief; her panicked heart beat finally slowing. "Over where the purple banner is," she instructed happily. I nodded and she placed a firm hand on my shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "Thank you for this, it means so much to me."

"Any time," I smiled back, the second she was out of hearing range I rounded on Damon, shoving him with only a tenth of my strength so he wouldn't go flying backwards suspiciously. "Did you know about this?!"

"No, but God I wish I had," he laughed heartily. I scoffed and smacked him as hard as I could upside the head. He jolted and his eyes misted over as the impact cracked his skull for a moment or two before it healed. "_Ouch_!"

"You deserved it," I spat simply before grabbing his hand and quickly kissing the back of it as way of an apology. "You know I hate kids."

"You're fantastic with kids Cass," he rolled his eyes, pulling me over to where Liz stood. He changed the subject as we walked, our arms swinging between us. "You know, you should probably head over to the kids now, wouldn't want to keep the little children waiting."

"Oh hush," I pulled away and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Don't wave that thing at me unless you intend to use it," he countered, grinning cheekily. I gaped at him for a moment before deciding I would play the 'offended' card and I simply gave him the finger and a fake glare before spinning on my heel and heading over to the day-care area.

* * *

I dusted my hands off, stretching my hands above my head and rolling my neck. Unfortunately, vampires could still get headaches. "How was it?" Damon asked, strolling up next to me and handing me half an egg sandwich. I bit into it hungrily, chewing as I thought back on my time surrounded by the children.

"Bearable," I replied after I'd swallowed, eyeing the little rug rats wearily.

Hey, tell me something," he said as I finished off another moutfull. "Did you notice the big bad wolf with Liz before?"

I nodded, recalling seeing them together as Caroline ranted to me about how pissed she was with her mothers sudden change of character when I had first arrived today. I had noted how suspicious it had seemed, but had had more important things to worry about at the time: such as the creepy tree-huggers that kept offering me to join their peace circle off in the woods. I'm fairly certain they were just off doing weed.

"Come on," he said, dragging me towards the woman in question. "Hey, we saw you with Mason earlier. What was that all about?" he asked as we stopped in front of the table the blonde was working at. She looked up at us and her heartbeat seemed to kick up a little more than usual. I tilted my head curiously and offered a small smile, wondering why she was blinking so rapidly.

"Oh, oh I ah, just asked him to, ah, help with the clean up in the woods," she stuttered oddly. She had trouble meeting either of our gazes for long and I knew something completely serious was up.

"That's what we're here for," he said in confusion, obviously picking up the same vibes I was. "Put us to work!"

"Actually, apparently I'm here to do some babysitting," I drawled in annoyance, hoping to lighten the mood. She only gave a shaky, half smile and kept her eyes on her work. "Damon however would be perfectly capable of going to help him in the woods."

"Oh no, no, no. You know what? I think he's- I'm sure he's fine," she stumbled over her words a second time. I pursed my lips in confusion, watching her carefully.

It was silent for a beat and I glanced up at Damon at the same time he looked to me, asking me with my eyes if he knew what was going on. I gave a silent nod and told him to say something. After a beat he spoke up, "Are you okay Liz?"

"You seem upset," I added, my grip tightening on Damon's hand. I was genuinely worried for this beautiful lady who had been nothing but kind to Damon and I since we had arrived. She looked up at us with wide eyes as we watched her.

Finally she spoke tightly, "It's Caroline. We had a moment."

"Is there anything we can do?" he asked and I could tell by his expression that he really meant it. He actually wanted to help.

"No, but thank you both," she gave a tiny smile as though trying to reassure us, but she only made me more concerned. "It's just my horrible parenting skills paying off in spades."

She gave us a final shaky smile before taking the opportunity to practically run in the opposite direction. I watched her as she headed off, my forehead wrinkling in concern for my human friend. "Was that as suspicious to you as it was to me?" Damon asked me quietly, leaning down into my ear to speak. I glanced away from Liz's retreating figure and up to him momentarily as his hand held onto my waist tightly.

"Definitely," I frowned in worry. Damon pulled me closer for a moment before seeming to realise we were in a public place and withdrawing slightly.

"Should we be worried?"

"How should I know?" I asked incredulously, looking up at him with sharp eyes.

"I don't know? You're a chick, she's a chick. Its science or something, right?"

And _that_, ladies and gentlemen, is the love of my existence.

I smacked him upside the head harshly once again, ignoring how adorably confused he was. "I'm a chick whose best friend for 170 years has been a _guy._ What does that tell you?"

"First of all, _ouch_," he snapped, sending me a harsh glare. My lips twitched in a near smirk, but I resisted the urge. "Second of all, I think we have bigger things to worry about anyway."

I looked up at him questionably, but he was looking over at Elena and Stefan pointedly. I frowned as they glared at each other. That couple never _ever_ fought, something was definitely up. Curiosity got the best of me and I focused my hearing, tuning in to their conversation.

* * *

"You know, I was thinking about buying a new Fender Strat. Probably '97 and hopefully a nice aqua colour..." I trailed off as I realised Damon wasn't listening to a thing I was saying. "I was also thinking about stripping down naked and giving Carol Lockwood a lap dance."

"Sounds great Cassie, what do you think Mason's up to?" he replied, his eyes trained on the werewolf over by the kids serving drinks. I huffed irritably, but replied anyway.

"Why, do you think he's up to something?"

"He's got Liz all shaken up, he's been acting real shifty all day, and oh yeah, he's a werewolf!" Damon mouthed off sarcastically. I rolled my eyes but had to concede that he had a point.

"Well then, let's go over and have a chat," I smiled with mock cheeriness and tugged him in Mason's direction.

"Uh, I'm not so-"

"Hiya Mason," I chirped as he turned to glower at us. I brushed my hair off my face from the wind and smiled again with innocence. "Working hard?"

"Doing my part," he replied after hesitating.

"I heard you talked to Stefan," Damon interrupted, having a change of heart about confronting him and deciding to help me attain answers.

"Nice guy," Mason nodded.

"Yeah, a lot nicer than us," Damon chuckled, seeming almost completely light-hearted as he did it.

"Nice is overrated," he responded.

"_Ooh, _wolf boy gets it," I purred. "Of course I've always been more of a cat person myself." Damon smirked at the inside joke, while Mason just cocked an eyebrow.

"You and Damon have a good day," he finally said before all but running in the other direction.

"Please tell me that you were just bonding," Stefan appeared behind us. I didn't turn to look at him, simply rolling my eyes and shaking my head as a little girl offered me a glass of lemonade. I didn't trust those kids to make anything even slightly drinkable, so I instead grabbed a bottle of sealed water off the other table as Damon and Stefan talked.

"Would you like some lemonade?" the little girl asked Damon as he stepped up beside me, a hand on the small of my back.

"Thank you sweetie," Damon almost cooed as he took it from her with a genuine grin. I raised an eyebrow but felt my lips quirk upwards at the action. I was barely paying attention as he tipped back half the cup in one go, only to have it come right back out accompanied by the familiar sizzling sound of vervained vampire flesh.

My eyes widened in horror as he bent over with an agonised expression, gasping for air. "Damon!" I yelled, terrified as Stefan and I led him over to a nearby bench.

"What? What is it?" Stefan asked, worry and confusion mixing in his voice.

"Vervain," he wheezed. I handed him my bottled water which remained untainted with the poison. He gulped down a large mouthful before spitting it back out quickly, wincing while his tender mouth healed. "Vervain."

I straightened my spine and drew myself up to my full height, my sharp eyes darting the area for anyone suspicious looking. Of course I knew it had to be Mason, but he probably had an accomplice, someone on the council or a deputy. Damon coughed again and before I could thoroughly sweep the whole area I slid my attention back to him without a second thought.

Taking a seat beside him, one of my hands rubbed circles on his back while the other ran through his hair as he breathed deeply. For a few moments we sat like that, me comforting him as I was, him leaning into my touch and Stefan with a hand on his shoulder, offering his own slight comfort too.

Suddenly he stood with a loud, animal like snarl that only a vampire could produce. He ripped away from our touch and stalked to a nearby tree. "I'm gonna kill him!" he exclaimed loudly, his eyes turning black.

He strode passed us towards the woods we knew the wolf to be. I smirked darkly stepped out of his way with plans to follow his lead, but Stefan had other ideas. "No no no!"

He held his older brother back, struggling to do so with Damon's superior power. They argued for a minute, their loud voices mixing together until I finally had enough. I shoved myself between them, a hand on each boy's chest and violently shoved them apart sending them each several steps back. Without waiting for them to start up again I stepped in front of Stefan, both of my hands on his shoulders as I stared defiantly up into his brown eyes.

"He's going to die Stefan. He hurt D, and in the same action threatened us all. Damon gets revenge, so do I. You have other, more peaceful ideas? Well I can happily tell you where to shove them. Two against one little brother."

"Okay, I don't like it. He's making threats, he could expose us, we need to put him down," Stefan reluctantly agreed, keeping his voice low. I let go of his shoulder and stepped away so my back was pressed up against Damon's chest. Feeling the heat of his torso through my dress was all I needed to remind myself he was still okay. After all, it was just a little vervain, we'd been through worse.

"Alright, let's do it!" Damon enthused. "Woods, trash duty," he pointed to our right where Mason was walking off all alone in the thick of the trees.

Damon stalked off ahead of us while Stefan and I trailed behind in an effort not to look suspicious. I grinned up at him, "I liked the dog pun back there. You're catching on Stefano."

"Don't call me that," he chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Come on, we need to catch him before he meets up with anyone else."

I walked after the boys, keeping our pace so as not to arouse suspicion. Stefan opened his mouth to say something else but Damon pressed a finger to his lips to stop him as we grew closer. We didn't know how sensitive his hearing was, and we could use the element of surprise. He noticed our presence eventually, standing straight as we strolled in, surrounding him. "Oh, don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable." He paused, tilting his head. Adrenalin started pumping through me at the thought of the chase. "Go ahead; run. We'll give you a head start."

A predatory grin spread across my lips, my hands eager to latch onto his heart and rip it from his chest. He took a deep breath and ducked just as a shot fired through the clearing. I frowned in confusion, before I managed to catch sight of a large bullet wound in Damon's torso. My eyes widened in fright but before I could do anything I felt a searing agony in my own chest. I looked down n shock, seeing blood pool at the front of my sun dress. I gasped, feeling the vervain the wooden bullets were laced with enter my bloodstream. Another handful of shots sounded in quick succession, hitting Stefan and another one nailing me in the leg. I hissed, dropping to my knees in pain.

A final shot hit me in the stomach and I grunted, falling back onto the dirt. Everything began to sound like it was happening underwater, and my limbs felt too heavy to move. I felt a sharp pinch in my shoulder and slowly everything faded to black.

* * *

A awoke to a blistering pain in my knee. I woke up like breaking the surface of the water, spluttering and gasping for breath."Cassie," I heard Damon wheeze from my right.

"Damon?" I asked tightly. A hand fumbled for my own, and I latched onto his fingers firmly, desperate for his touch.

"Tell me, or I kill her first and make you watch," a familiar voice said.

"Liz?" I coughed, tilting my head to look at my blonde haired friend in pain. "What the hell?"

"Tell me how you walk in the sun!" she demanded, waving a gun in my direction.

"No, you can't kill them! I won't let you!" another familiar voice shouted, person sprinting into the room in a panic.

"Elena?" I breathed in confusion, looking around the cave we appeared to be in. How long had we been unconscious? And where the hell were we?

"What's that?" Liz asked suddenly as I got a whiff of Caroline's signature perfume. My chest contracted, I knew what this meant. Care's mum would find out what she was. I had no idea how this would play out, but I worried for her and how this would impact their relationship.

"Hi mum," Care said as she pulled away from the deputy she'd just drained.

"Caroline?" she sobbed, the gun trembling in her hands. "Caroline, no!"

A tear spilled over her cheek as she stared at her mother. "Elena!" I hissed, getting her attention without distracting the mother and daughter. "Elena."

She started, looking away from the pair and rushing towards us, typically going for Stefan first. I huffed, finally letting go of my death grip on Damon's hand and moving my own to my chest. I took a deep, steadying breath before ruthlessly shoving my fingers into the wound in my chest, digging around for the bullet. My fingers seared as they came into contact with the vervain laced wood, and I ripped it from my flesh brutally, throwing it across the room.

I heard the tell tale squelching of severed flesh that meant Damon was digging out his own wooden bullets. The one in my stomach was relatively easy to fish out, but the one in my knee was tricky; it was surrounded by my shattered kneecap bone. Finally I'd tugged it free, tossing it across the room angrily. I was finished before Damon, so I crawled over to help him dig out the remaining one in his left knee as Elena focused all her attention on Stefan, barely sparing us a glance. "Come on," I told him once it was out, pulling him over to the Deputy Caroline had knocked out.

"You first."

"Together," I compromised, shooting him a weak smile before leaning over him and sinking my fangs into his carotid artery and relishing in the blood that pooled in my mouth. I felt Damon kneel beside me, pressing his own face into the other side of the neck, drinking deeply.

After a long, satisfying moment I pulled back, licking my lips as Damon followed. "You need to drink some deputy blood," he told his brother seriously.

"No, I'll be fine," he insisted. "It's just going to take a bit longer."

I thought about the pros and cons of him taking the blood. Pro: it would loosen him up a bit, pull that stick out of his ass. Con: he'd turn into a psychotic, sociopathic ripper. Tough call.

"Damon's right. If there was ever a time to break your diet..." Caroline said helpfully.

"He said he didn't want it," Elena interrupted. I shot her an annoyed look, noticing a drop of blood on my hand and licking it off hungrily.

"This is the most unfortunate situation," Damon said, slowly and painfully standing, holding out a hand for me once he was upright. I took it gratefully, letting him pull me to my feet almost effortlessly. "Two deputies dead... and you," he finished, turning to look at Liz closely. "What am I going to do with you?"

Her eyes were shining with tears as Caroline said, "You won't tell anyone, will you?" She gazed at her daughter, pain in her eyes. "Mum? Please! Look, I know that we don't get along and that you _hate_ me, but I'm your _daughter _and you'll do this for me, right? Mum, please. He _will_ kill you."

"It's true," I added, shrugging apathetically. I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't want anything to happen to her at all, but she had shot my family and I in the chests, and that sort of thing was a little tricky to forgive.

"Then kill me."

It was silent for a beat as we all stared at her. "No!" Caroline shouted emotionally.

"I can't take this," she continued tearfully."Kill me, now."

Damon leaned down to her level, meeting her eyes dead on. "But you were going to drag it out so _painfully_." He grabbed her, slamming her against the cellar wall roughly.

"No!" everyone shouted in fear. "Damon don't!"

"Cassie, tell him to stop!" Elena yelled at me desperately. I shrugged, holding my hands up and taking a step back, telling them I didn't intend on stepping in. Damon could make his own decisions, he was a big boy.

"Relax guys," Damon scoffed with a grin. "Nobody's killing anybody." He turned to Liz, grabbing her gently by the back of the neck to keep her in place. "You're our friend," he told her quietly, trying to smile at her, even though it came out as more of a grimace.

Another sob tore out of her, weeping over the death of her deputies, the death of her daughter. "Someone has to clean this up," I drawled, looking over the corpses lazily. "Stefan, Elena and Care," I said, crossing my arms as they turned to look at me. "You take Liz back to the boardinghouse."

"Yeah," Damon nodded, letting her go and moving to stand beside me. "You can lock her up in the basement or something, wait for the vervain to leave her system so we can compel her."

I nodded, agreeing. "Damon and I will bury the bodies."

"Okay," Stefan nodded, standing up slowly with Elena's help. "We'll meet you at home."

Caroline tried to put an arm around her mother's shoulders, but she flinched away. I saw pure pain cross over Care's face but she quickly covered it with a small smile. Elena stepped forward, taking the trembling Sheriff by the arm and leading her out of the cellar.

I looked between the two bodies we had to bury, not looking forward to the hard work that was about to follow.

* * *

"It's not exactly the Ritz," Damon said, gesturing to the old, mouldy cellar. "But it's secure. I brought you good thread count."

"Once the vervain is completely out of your system, we'll compel you, you'll forget everything and be on your merry way," I told her with a playful smile, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

"Keep Caroline away from me please." My happy demeanour immediately dropped, a scowl melting onto my features. "I don't want to see her."

Damon and I glanced up the the doorway, where Care stood out of sight of her mother. Anger swelled in me at the heartbroken expression on her face. "She's your daughter Liz."

"Not any more." A low growl rumbled in my throat and Liz looked up at me, surprised before a determined frown set of her features. "My daughter is gone," she told me, lifting her chin up, probably to show she wasn't afraid of me or something.

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that," Damon said. I opened my mouth, ready to let her have it, but Caroline held up a hand, shaking her head even with tears in her eyes, before dropping the suitcase she was holding and turning away, taking off down the corridor.

"You haven't lost her yet," I said, unable to help myself as I strode to the door, looking over my shoulder and down my nose at her. "But keep up that attitude, and you will."

I disappeared out the door, turning down the hallway and pushing passed Stefan and Elena. The latter tried to follow me, but I put a hand up, stopping her and pointing to Stefan. She nodded reluctantly, moving back to her boyfriend.

"Care!" I called, appearing in front of her as she tried to leave the house, shutting the door softly and standing in front of it. "Care."

"It doesn't matter," she said instantly, her voice tight and full of pain.

"Of _course_ it matters Caroline," I said, taking her arm and leading her into the lounge. "She's your mother."

"What did- what did your mother think of you? After you were turned?" she asked naively, looking up at me with large, doe eyes.

"My mother died when I was six," I told her, realising she didn't know my history, which meant that Elena hadn't gone and told her everything Damon and I had told her, which I supposed was a good thing. "I moved in with Damon, Stefan and their father."

"Oh," she hummed, sniffling sadly. "I'm sorry."

I waved a hand, indicating it wasn't a big deal. "That was over a century ago," I said, letting my lips twitch up. "I'm over it. Your issues are slightly more relevant."

She laughed wetly, rubbing her eyes with her palms.

Elena swung around the corner, locking eyes with us cautiously. I could feel that she wanted to talk with her, so I squeezed Caroline tightly one last time, kissed her on the forehead gently and told her, "I'll be upstairs if you need anything."

I let them be, moving up to my room. I was just hoping up the main staircase when Damon was coming down it. I smiled at him, planning to pass him by, but he swung an arm around me waist, pulling me flush against him and anchoring our lips together. I gasped into his mouth, before relaxing into the embrace, my lips dancing with his.

After a long, wonderful moment I pulled away, keeping my arms wrapped around my neck and smiling up at him meekly. "What was that for?" I asked, tracing a random pattern on the back of his neck.

"It's been a long day, I figured we could both use it," he grinned cheekily, pressing one last chaste kiss to my lips before pulling back and getting serious. "Did you hear Stefan and Elena?"

"You mean their little spat over the human blood?" I asked, leaning in to him comfortably. "What are your thoughts?"

"I'm just about to go have a talk to Elena about it now," he said, arms tightening around my middle. "I think it's the best thing to come out of his mouth in centuries."

"Same," I replied, biting my lip as I thought. "I am worried about him controlling himself," I admitted under my breath, ensuring Stefan couldn't hear.

"We'll just have to watch as it unfolds, I suppose."

"And step in if we have to," I added, nodding along with him. "Is Liz doing okay?" I asked, cocking my head as he nodded affirmatively. "Oh good, I'll check up on her in the morning. Make her 'I'm sorry I lied about not being a vampire' pancakes for breakfast or something." He grinned toothily, pressing his forehead against mine. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night," I bid him, kissing him one final time before pulling back and disappearing up the stairs.

I jumped in the shower and took the time to methodically wash my hair, letting my lavender body wash relax me. I changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top, grinning at the feel of the cotton on my fresh, clean skin. I wandered over to the couch by the window, picking up my old acoustic as I went and sitting down with it, idly plucking at the strings as I thought over the day.

Only minutes later I heard the sound of light footsteps heading towards my room, and then a timid knock on the door. "Come in," I called, looking up as Caroline stepped through the doorway, quietly shutting the door behind her. "Hey Care," I greeted quietly, smiling up into her red, puffy eyes. "Everything okay?"

"Can we maybe watch a movie or something?" she asked feebly, twisting her hands in front of her. "Every time I close my eyes I see my mum's face and I just... need something to take my mind off of today."

I stood up, taking the guitar with me and putting it back in it's stand. "That sounds perfect," I grinned, moving over to the cupboard beneath my TV. "You pick a movie, I'll be right back."

I raced down to the kitchen, ignoring the sounds of Elena and Stefan having sex in his bedroom, grimacing at the sound of it. I opened the fridge, pulling out a bar of chocolate I'd stashed there the other week. I went back up to my room, shutting the door silently behind me and jumping into bed with Caroline, who'd made herself at home and tucked herself up in my covers. "Carmel chocolate?" I asked with a mischievous smirk, holding out the frozen block as the opening credits for Wayne's World rolled onto the screen.

"You're the best, Cassie," she smiled, breaking off a chunk and nibbling on it daintily. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

I grinned, throwing the chocolate aside and wrapping my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me and kissing her forehead for the second time that night, turning to the screen and watching one of the funniest movies in creation. It was a break well earned.

**A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. I know it's been forever, but I've once again been bitten by the Vampire Diaries bug! Expect more chapters soon. Love you all! :)**


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